The SnowPro Core Certification Exam validates your foundational knowledge of Snowflake’s platform and features. This guide highlights essential topics, resources, and tips to help you prepare and succeed.

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Purpose of this Document

This study guide aims to:

• Provide a clear overview of the SnowPro Core exam objectives.
• Summarize key concepts and skills required for the exam.
• Link to helpful resources to enhance your understanding of Snowflake’s capabilities.

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Study Domains

Domain 1.0: Snowflake AI Data Cloud Features and Architecture:

• 1.1 Outline key features of the Snowflake AI Data Cloud
  • Elastic storage
  • Elastic compute
  • Snowflake’s three distinct layers
  • Cloud partner categories
  • Snowflake Editions
• 1.2 Outline key Snowflake tools and user interfaces.
  • Snowsight
  • SnowSQL
  • Snowflake connectors
  • Snowflake drivers
  • Snowpark
  • SnowCD
• 1.3 Outline Snowflake’s catalog & objects
  • Databases
  • Stages
  • Schema types
  • Table types
  • View types
  • Data types
  • UDFs
  • UDTFs
  • Stored Procedures
  • Streams
  • Tasks
  • Pipes
  • Shares
  • Sequences
• 1.4 Outline Snowflake storage concepts
  • Micro-partitions
  • Data clustering
  • Data Storage monitoring

Domain 2.0: Snowflake Account Access & Security:

• 2.1 Outline security principles
  • Network security & policies
  • MFA
  • Federated Authentication
  • Key Pair Authentication
  • SSO
• 2.2 Define entities & roles used in Snowflake.
  • Overview of access control
    • Access control frameworks
    • Access Control privileges
  • Outline how privileges can be granted and revoked
  • Explain role hierarchy and inherentance
• 2.3 Outline data governance capabilities in Snowflake
  • Accounts
  • Organizations
  • Secure views
  • Secure functions
  • Information schemas
  • Access history
    • Tracking read/write operations
  • Overview of row/comlumn level security
  • Object tags

Domain 3.0: Performance Concepts

• 3.1 Explain the use of Query Profile.
  • Explain plans
  • Data spilling
  • Use of the data cache
  • Micro-partition pruning
  • Query history
• 3.2 Explain virtual warehouse configurations.
  • Types of warehouses
  • Multi-clustering warehouses
    • Scaling policies
    • Scaling modes
  • Warehouse sizing
  • Warehouse settings & access
• 3.3 Outline virtual warehouse performance tools.
  • Monitoring warehouse loads
  • Scaling-up compared to scaling-out
  • Resource monitors
  • Query acceleration service
• 3.4 Optimize query performance.
  • Describe the use of materialized views
  • Use of specific SELECT commands
  • Clustering
  • Search optimization service
  • Persisted query results
  • Understanding the impace of different types of caching
    • Metadata cache
    • Result cache
    • Warehouse cache

1. Domain 4.0: Data loading & unloading
   • 4.1 Define concepts and best practices that should be considered when loading data.
     • Stages and stage types
     • File size and formats
     • Folder structures
     • Ad-hoc/bulk loading
     • Snowpipe
   • 4.2 Outline different commands to load data and when they should be used.
     • CREATE STAGE
     • CREATE FILE FORMAT
     • CREATE PIPE
     • CREATE EXTERNAL TABLE
     • COPY INTO
     • INSERT/INSERT OVERWRITE
     • PUT
     • VALIDATE
2. Official Training:
   • Snowflake Fundamentals

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Study Resources

1. Snowflake Documentation:
   • Getting Started Guide
   • Data Loading Best Practices
   • Query Performance Tuning
2. Official Training:
   • Snowflake Fundamentals
   • Advanced Query Optimization
3. Community Resources:
   • Snowflake Community Forums: Visit Here
   • Hands-on Tutorials: Snowflake Labs
4. Practice Tests:
   • Leverage Snowflake’s official sample questions or third-party platforms for mock exams.

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Exam Tips

1. Hands-On Practice:
   • Use Snowflake’s free trial to experiment with data ingestion, query optimization, and security settings.
2. Understand Core Features:
   • Focus on Snowflake’s architecture, RBAC, and its unique capabilities like Time Travel and zero-copy cloning.
3. Familiarize Yourself with Exam Format:
   • Review the question types and time constraints to manage exam pressure effectively.
4. Leverage Practice Questions:
   • Test your knowledge with official or third-party mock exams.

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Conclusion

The SnowPro Core Certification validates your knowledge of Snowflake and positions you as an expert in modern cloud data platforms. By following this guide, mastering the outlined skills, and leveraging the resources provided, you can confidently approach the exam and advance your data engineering career.

Good luck!

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