Snowflake Certification Practice Test

What is a proper action when the table resides on many micro-partitions?

1. Increase the warehouse size

2. Avoid using clustering

3. Consider using Clustering Keys

4. Load it as one large file

The correct answer is: Consider using Clustering Keys

Using Clustering Keys when a table resides on many micro-partitions is a proper action because it helps improve query performance and efficiency within Snowflake. Micro-partitioning is one of the key features of Snowflake's architecture, which automatically organizes tables into micro-partitions for storage and performance optimization. However, as the number of micro-partitions increases, particularly if data is skewed or frequently queried in non-linear ways, performance can degrade as the system needs to scan more partitions to fulfill queries. Clustering Keys explicitly define how data is organized within those micro-partitions, allowing you to sort the data in a way that aligns with how you typically query it. This can result in fewer partitions needing to be scanned during queries, reducing query execution times and optimizing resource utilization. Proper use of clustering can significantly enhance the performance of reads against large datasets by maintaining data locality relevant to users' query patterns. Increasing the warehouse size could provide more processing power but does not address the underlying issues of how data is organized within the micro-partitions. Similarly, avoiding clustering entirely might not leverage the capabilities of Snowflake's architecture for optimizing data querying. Loading the table as one large file could also lead to inefficiencies as it would negate the benefits of micro-partitioning