What is Snowflake data cloud service ?

The Snowflake on data platform is built as a layer over Amazon Web Services, Microsoft Azure, and Google cloud infrastructure. The business does not have to install specific hardware, and software instead it can use the support of in-house services. This makes it scalable and functions on a powerful architecture and data-sharing capabilities. Now since the platform separates the function of storage and computing, businesses can use and pay for both independently. Organizations with high storage demands but fewer CPU cycles and vice versa can thus tailor the platform to meet their needs accordingly. The data-sharing functionality also allows organizations to quickly share governed and secure data in real time. The Snowflake architecture comprises:

• Database storage layer that holds both structured and semi-structured data which is organized as per file size, structure, compression, metadata, and statistics.
• The compute layer, is a set of virtual warehouses that execute data processing tasks required for queries. Each warehouse or a cluster of them can access all the data in the storage layer without competing for computing resources.
• The cloud services layer uses ANSI SQL and coordinates the entire system eliminating the need for manual data warehouse management and tuning. It includes services such as authentication, infrastructure management, metadata management, query parsing, and access control.