Snowflake Data Cloud Course

Lesson 1 • Cloud Data Platforms Overview

Covers the evolution from on-premises databases to cloud data platforms and where Snowflake fits. Establishes context for all subsequent architectural concepts.

Lesson 2 • Snowflake Account Setup and Navigation

Guides students through account creation, edition selection, and the Snowsight UI. Connects platform access to hands-on exploration throughout the course.

Lesson 3 • Snowflake Architecture Fundamentals

Explains Snowflake's three-layer architecture: storage, compute, and cloud services. Students understand how separation of compute and storage enables scalability.

Lesson 1 • Semi-Structured Data Handling

Covers loading and querying VARIANT, ARRAY, and OBJECT data types for JSON, Avro, and XML. Students flatten nested structures for analytical use.

Lesson 2 • Snowflake Storage Concepts

Covers micro-partitioning, clustering, and columnar storage as the foundation for efficient data loading. Students understand how storage design affects query performance.

Lesson 3 • Staging Data for Ingestion

Teaches internal and external stage creation and file format definitions. Students configure stages as the entry point for all bulk data loading workflows.

Lesson 4 • Continuous and Streaming Data Ingestion

Introduces Snowpipe for continuous file-based ingestion and event-driven loading patterns. Students connect Snowpipe to cloud storage notification services.

Lesson 1 • Query Optimisation Techniques

Explains query profiling, pruning, and result caching to reduce compute costs. Students diagnose slow queries using the Query Profile tool.

Lesson 2 • Snowflake SQL Essentials

Reviews standard SQL syntax within Snowflake's dialect, including DDL and DML operations. Establishes the query foundation required for all advanced SQL topics.

Lesson 3 • Window Functions and Analytics

Covers ranking, framing, and cumulative window functions for time-series and comparative analysis. Students build analytical queries that require row-level context.

Lesson 4 • Advanced SQL Functions

Teaches Snowflake-specific functions including string, date, conditional, and aggregate functions. Students apply these functions to solve common analytical problems.

Lesson 1 • Performance Monitoring and Tuning

Uses ACCOUNT_USAGE and INFORMATION_SCHEMA views to identify performance bottlenecks. Students build monitoring queries to track warehouse efficiency over time.

Lesson 2 • Warehouse Configuration and Policies

Covers auto-suspend, auto-resume, and statement timeout settings for cost control. Students apply configuration policies to match workload patterns.

Lesson 3 • Virtual Warehouse Architecture

Explains warehouse sizes, clusters, and the MPP execution model underlying query processing. Students connect warehouse configuration to query throughput.

Lesson 4 • Concurrency and Multi-Cluster Warehouses

Teaches multi-cluster warehouse scaling modes to handle concurrent user workloads. Students choose between maximised and auto-scale modes for different scenarios.

Lesson 1 • Role-Based Access Control Model

Explains Snowflake's RBAC hierarchy including system roles and custom role design. Students build least-privilege permission structures for multi-team environments.

Lesson 2 • Data Masking and Row-Level Security

Teaches dynamic data masking policies and row access policies for column- and row-level protection. Students apply policies to enforce data privacy without duplicating tables.

Lesson 3 • User and Authentication Management

Covers user creation, password policies, MFA, and SSO integration with identity providers. Students configure authentication controls that meet enterprise security standards.

Lesson 4 • Auditing and Compliance Monitoring

Uses LOGIN_HISTORY, QUERY_HISTORY, and ACCESS_HISTORY views to audit user activity. Students build audit reports that satisfy data governance and compliance requirements.

Lesson 1 • dbt Integration with Snowflake

Demonstrates connecting dbt Core or dbt Cloud to Snowflake for SQL-based transformation modelling. Students build a dbt project with models, tests, and documentation targeting Snowflake.

Lesson 2 • Pipeline Monitoring and Alerting

Uses Snowflake Alerts and ACCOUNT_USAGE views to monitor pipeline health and trigger notifications. Students configure threshold-based alerts for data freshness and task failures.

Lesson 3 • Streams for Change Data Capture

Introduces Snowflake Streams to track INSERT, UPDATE, and DELETE changes on source tables. Students use stream metadata columns to build incremental transformation logic.

Lesson 4 • Tasks for Workflow Automation

Covers Snowflake Tasks for scheduling SQL statements and stored procedures on a cron or interval basis. Students build task chains that implement multi-step pipeline logic.

Lesson 1 • Snowflake Marketplace and Data Exchange

Introduces the Snowflake Marketplace for discovering and subscribing to third-party datasets. Students publish a listing and configure access controls for external consumers.

Lesson 2 • Creating and Managing Data Shares

Covers share creation, object grants, and consumer account provisioning. Students build and test a functional data share between provider and consumer accounts.

Lesson 3 • Secure Views and Share Security

Teaches secure views as a mechanism to expose only approved data subsets in shares. Students apply row-level and column-level controls within shared objects.

Lesson 1 • Zero-Copy Cloning

Teaches zero-copy cloning for instant duplication of databases, schemas, and tables without storage cost. Students use cloning for dev/test environment provisioning and data snapshots.

Lesson 2 • Snowflake for AI and ML Workloads

Covers Cortex AI functions, ML-powered features, and model registry for embedding AI into data pipelines. Students apply Snowflake Cortex to build intelligent analytical workflows.

Lesson 3 • Time Travel and Fail-Safe

Covers Snowflake Time Travel for querying historical data states and recovering dropped objects. Students configure retention periods and use AT and BEFORE clauses for data recovery.

Lesson 4 • Cost Management and Governance

Applies resource monitors, budget alerts, and usage views to control Snowflake spending. Students build a cost governance framework aligned with organisational budget policies.