Snowflake Certification Practice Test

Which of the following statements describes the characteristics of micro-partitions in Snowflake?

1. Micro-partitions are fully mutable

2. They are divided by user-defined criteria

3. They allow for efficient filtering and query performance

4. They can be manually configured by users

The correct answer is: They allow for efficient filtering and query performance

Micro-partitions in Snowflake are small, contiguous units of storage that play a crucial role in the Snowflake architecture. They are designed to enhance both data storage and query performance. The correct answer highlights that micro-partitions allow for efficient filtering and query performance due to how they organize and store data. When data is ingested into Snowflake, it automatically organizes the data into these micro-partitions based on the order of the incoming data. Each micro-partition typically stores between 50 MB and 500 MB of uncompressed data and includes metadata information, such as the minimum and maximum values of the columns contained within. This metadata enables Snowflake to quickly filter out entire partitions that do not meet query conditions, significantly speeding up query execution. The concept of being fully mutable refers to a flexibility in modifying data directly, which is not a characteristic of micro-partitions. While they are efficient for querying and filtering, they are managed by Snowflake's internal mechanisms rather than user-defined criteria and cannot be manually configured in terms of their divisions. Therefore, the strength of micro-partitions lies in their ability to optimize query performance through efficient data organization and retrieval.