Free Snowflake ARA-C01 Exam Questions

Core Snowflake Technologies:

• Account and Database Strategy - Snowflake parameters (account, object, session), parameter hierarchy, single vs multiple account strategies, account isolation and segmentation
• Role-Based Access Control (RBAC) - Privilege inheritance, database roles, system roles, functional roles vs access roles, secondary roles, RBAC hierarchy design
• Data Security - Secure views, column-level security (external tokenization, dynamic data masking), row-level security (row access policies, aggregate policies, projection policies), data lineage, object tagging
• Authentication Methods - Federated authentication, Single Sign-On (SSO), Multi-Factor Authentication (MFA), OAuth, key-pair authentication, authentication policies
• Network Security - Network policies, network rules, external access, private connectivity (AWS PrivateLink, Azure Private Link, Google Cloud Private Service Connect)
• Data Modeling - Data Vault, Star schema, key/column constraints (ENABLE/RELY/VALIDATE)
• Data Sharing - Snowflake Marketplace, Data Exchange, secure data sharing, cross-cloud auto-fulfillment, sharing within same organization, across regions, between accounts, to non-Snowflake customers, across cloud providers, Data Clean Rooms
• Development Lifecycle - CI/CD integration, Git integration, Snowflake CLI, migration, deployment, rollback processes
• AI/ML Pipelines - Snowpark Container Services, Snowflake ML functions, Cortex LLM functions, Streamlit, Snowflake Native App Framework
• Data Engineering - Data loading (bulk file upload, Snowpipe, Snowpipe Streaming, external tables, Iceberg tables), data unloading, Change Data Capture (CDC), schema detection and evolution, data transformation (views, dynamic tables, streams, tasks, UDFs, external functions)
• Performance Optimization - Query profiling, virtual warehouse configuration (auto-suspend/resume, scale up/down, multi-cluster, query acceleration service, Snowpark-optimized warehouses), clustering (natural, auto-clustering, clustering keys), search optimization service, caching strategies
• Disaster Recovery - Time Travel, zero-copy cloning, fail-safe, database replication, backup and recovery

Exam Sections (4 Main Domains with Weightings):

1. Account and Security (25%) - Design Snowflake account and database strategy based on business requirements, configure Snowflake parameters, outline benefits and limitations of single vs multiple accounts, design architecture meeting data security, privacy, compliance, and governance requirements, configure RBAC hierarchy, implement data access controls, outline Snowflake security principles and use cases
2. Snowflake Architecture (30%) - Outline benefits and limitations of various data models (Data Vault, Star schema), design data sharing solutions for different use cases, create architecture solutions supporting development lifecycles and workload requirements, outline object hierarchy and its impact on architecture, determine appropriate data recovery solutions
3. Data Engineering (25%) - Determine appropriate data loading or unloading solutions, outline key tools in Snowflake ecosystem and how they interact with Snowflake, determine appropriate data transformation solutions to meet business needs
4. Performance Optimization (20%) - Outline performance tools, best practices, and appropriate scenarios where they should be applied, troubleshoot performance issues with existing architectures

Advanced Skills Tested:

• Designing end-to-end data flows from source to consumption using the Snowflake Platform
• Designing and deploying data architectures that meet business, security, and compliance requirements
• Selecting appropriate Snowflake and third-party tools to optimize architecture performance
• Designing and deploying shared data sets using Snowflake Marketplace and Data Exchange
• Creating and configuring Snowflake parameters based on central account and additional accounts
• Designing RBAC hierarchies with proper privilege inheritance and role management
• Implementing comprehensive data security including column-level and row-level security
• Configuring authentication methods including SSO, MFA, OAuth, and key-pair authentication
• Designing data sharing solutions for various use cases including cross-region and cross-cloud sharing
• Supporting development lifecycles with CI/CD, Git integration, and Snowflake CLI
• Designing AI/ML pipelines using Snowpark Container Services, Cortex LLM functions, and Streamlit
• Determining appropriate data loading solutions including Snowpipe, external tables, and Iceberg tables
• Selecting appropriate data transformation solutions including dynamic tables, streams, tasks, and UDFs
• Optimizing query performance using query profiling, virtual warehouse configuration, and clustering
• Troubleshooting performance issues and implementing caching strategies
• Designing disaster recovery solutions using Time Travel, zero-copy cloning, and replication