Are you tired of battling the delays that come with traditional data exchange?
It’s a common frustration, especially in today’s world, where agility is paramount. Relying on outdated methods for sharing data can rapidly drain resources and innovation, crippling your progress.
Why? Complex ETL processes, constant worrying about data security, and endless file transfers.
What if we told you that adopting data sharing could help you cut down the time spent on data collection and analysis by a whopping 40%?
Snowflake data sharing eliminates your biggest roadblocks, offering a streamlined and real-time secure solution for data exchange needs. It is a tangible benefit that can dramatically accelerate your insights.
We are here to walk you through the process of strengthening your data strategy by replacing the cumbersome transfers with effortless data sharing with Snowflake.
Let’s begin with what the concept entails!
- Snowflake data sharing enables secure, real-time access to specific datasets between Snowflake accounts, or even non-Snowflake users, without physically copying or moving the data (eliminating traditional ETL processes).
- The platform facilitates a dynamic data ecosystem through two main models: the Public Data Exchange (or Data Marketplace) for broad commercial listings, and the Private Data Exchange for secure, controlled, invitation-only partnerships.
- The Provider owns the data, initiates the process, and retains full control over security policies and updates. The Consumer receives access to the live data and queries it using their own compute resources.
- Sharing data on Snowflake is flexible, offering listings (Public or private) on the data marketplace for discovery, direct sharing for simple one-to-one exchange within the same region, and data exchange for managed collaboration among trusted invited members.
- Data sharing is inherently secure, maintaining granular control (e.g., row-level security). Consumers gain immediate, real-time access to the data, ensuring that all changes made by the provider are instantly reflected.
- The primary benefits are significant cost efficiency (due to zero-copy and reduced ETL), simplicity and easy setup, and the elimination of data movement hassles like reconciliation problems and API integrations.
What is Snowflake Data Sharing?
Snowflake data sharing allows you to share secure, real-time access to specific datasets with other Snowflake accounts—and even non-Snowflake users—without copying or moving the data.
Traditional data replication processes, which are usually costly and complex, are eliminated because the data is not physically moved.
How does Snowflake render data sharing so revolutionary? It all boils down to knowing how Snowflake works at its core.
The unique, decoupled Snowflake architecture is fundamental to its capabilities in sharing data. With all the data within a cloud-agnostic storage layer, this platform offers secure access to data without physical duplication. Multiple independent compute clusters can access the underlying data simultaneously.
Shareable Objects in Snowflake
With its distinct layers for storage and compute, you can share live data without any cumbersome data duplication or ETL (Extract, Transform, Load) processes. You always have access to current information due to the option of multiple shareable objects.
Here are a few objects you can share:
- Tables
- External Tables
- Schemas
- Secure Views
- Databases
- Secured Materialized Views
- Stored Procedures
- Secure UDFs (User-Defined Functions)
Snowflake’s Data Sharing Platform
Snowflake’s data sharing platform is reshaping how you interact with data. It has grown bigger than just about moving files—it creates a dynamic ecosystem where governed data is securely exchanged in real-time.
But how does this help you?
You can effortlessly discover, access, and eventually share critical datasets. Consequently, it helps foster secure data collaboration for accelerating the path to valuable insights.
The two powerful models that facilitate this exchange are:
1. Public Data Exchange
The Public Data Exchange, also called the Snowflake Data Marketplace, enables data providers to list and offer their datasets to multiple Snowflake customers. The datasets can be both free and commercial. The model suits industry consortia, data vendors, or enterprises that wish to monetize their data assets.
2. Private Data Exchange
Private Data Exchange is useful for sharing data between specific organizations in a secure, direct, and controlled manner. As opposed to the public exchange, this model relies on explicit, invitation-only relationships.
Thus, it is suitable for direct business partnerships, inter-departmental data sharing within a large enterprise, or supply chain collaborations.
Providers have complete control over who can access their data and for how long. It results in a highly secure and private partnership.
All About Provider & Consumer in Data Sharing
At the very core of its powerful data sharing capabilities stands a clear distinction between two key roles—the Provider and the Consumer. The distinction ensures secure and efficient data exchange for a collaborative environment.
You can only leverage Snowflake data sharing effectively by understanding these two accounts.
1. Provider
The Provider account owns the data and initiates the sharing process. They are the data source and create the share object. They begin by defining specific database objects (including tables, UDFs, or secure views) in the share and granting access to certain consumer accounts.
The provider has total control over the data’s lifecycle, including Snowflake security policies and updates, along with the right to revoke. They publish the data ultimately consumed by others.
2. Consumer
The Consumer account receives and accesses the data that a provider shares with them. Upon getting access, they can create a read-only database within their own Snowflake environment.
The shared database is like all other databases. The consumer can query the live data through their own compute resources, build applications on top of it, or even integrate it with their existing datasets. And none of this requires data duplication or complex ETL processes.
Let’s see how a Provider can share data with Consumers in Snowflake.
Options for Sharing Data in Snowflake
The platform caters to your distinct collaboration needs through its flexible and secure mechanisms for sharing data. You could aim for broad public distribution, focused one-to-one exchanges, or a managed environment for multiple partners.
In either case, Snowflake offers distinct options for seamless data flow without requiring data copying or movement.
1. Listing
The listing option enables you to publish datasets on its Data Marketplace with additional metadata. The shared data becomes available to a wide audience of Snowflake customers for discovery and consumption. Any user can thus find, evaluate, and instantly access live data, nurturing a vibrant ecosystem of data products.
There are two types of listings—Private and Public.
• Private
Private listings are accessible only to specific consumers. You can use the features of this option to directly share information with exclusive Snowflake accounts in any given region.
• Public
Data products are publicly shared in Snowflake Marketplace for promotion across the Snowflake Data Cloud. You can easily share data offerings with multiple customers in a single shot, rather than wasting time sharing individually.
2. Direct Share
The Direct Share option is the simplest one, offering consumers access to provider data when both the provider and the consumer are in the same region. For direct share, the data provider must have access to the customer accounts’ IDs. Once the access network is set, consumers can view and share data objects as necessary.
3. Snowflake Data Exchange
It is a method of securely collaborating between invited members. An impeccable feature for seamless data sharing with trusted third-party providers, accessible only through invitation.
Key Features of Data Sharing in Snowflake
True data collaboration may also bring along hidden costs and complexities.
But what if you could share data securely across clouds, in real-time, without the expensive duplication?
With innovative data sharing features like cross-cloud and zero-copy, Snowflake’s cost optimization is a possible reality. Here are the top data sharing features on the platform to streamline operations and transform data exchange into a value-driven process.
1. Secure Data Sharing
Providers maintain security by practicing granular control over who can access their data. They even specify tables, views, rows, and columns using features like row-level security. All data remains intact within its secure environment, which is encrypted, at rest and in transit.
2. Zero-Copy Data Sharing
The Zero-Copy data sharing feature allows providers to share live data without creating any physical copies. The provider and consumer access the same underlying data. It eliminates the requirement for time-consuming and costly ETL processes, reduces storage costs, lowers data latency, and offers the most current data version to the consumers.
3. Cross-Cloud and Cross-Region Sharing
In Snowflake, data can be shared seamlessly across different cloud providers, including AWS, Azure, and Google Cloud, as well as various geographic regions. As such, global enterprises can collaborate with partners regardless of the cloud infrastructure or location of either of these platforms. Hence, it breaks down geographical and platform barriers.
4. Real-Time Data Access
Consumers gain immediate, real-time access to the data shared by the provider. All changes made by the provider are instantly reflected for all authorized consumers, eliminating delays inherent in traditional data transfer methods or batch processing. Consumers can thus make data-driven decisions quickly as per the freshest available information.
5. External Data Sharing via Snowflake Data Marketplace
The Snowflake Data Marketplace is a centralized hub for external data sharing, where providers list their datasets for its huge group of customers. It simplifies data discovery and acquisition for consumers, helping them find and evaluate live data products.
Our Snowflake development services build custom data applications and pipelines that give you a competitive edge.
Benefits of Sharing Data in Snowflake
Data sharing in Snowflake is transforming how organizations exchange and collaborate on data. It is helping in movement beyond the limitations of traditional methods.
By securely and efficiently sharing various database objects, you experience benefits like never before, fostering a more connected ecosystem.
Let’s understand the top benefits of sharing data on the platform:
1. Cost Efficiency
As aforementioned, Snowflake enables zero-copy data sharing to eliminate the need for data duplication, drastically reducing storage costs for both providers and consumers. Since data is accessed live and not copied, erasing expenses related to traditional ETL processes’ compute and egress.
2. Simplicity and Easy Setup
Providers only need a few SQL commands or clicks in the UI to create a share and grant access. There is no need for complex configurations or a dedicated infrastructure. Similarly, consumers can instantly create a database from this shared data, reducing the technical overhead and time-to-value.
3. Elimination of Data Movement Hassles
There’s no need for data pipelines, API integrations, or FTP transfers to get data from one account to another. Simpler data movement equals zero hassles. Consumers can query the live data from the provider’s account via a secure view of the underlying storage. It removes issues like reconciliation problems, operational burden of managing multiple data copies, and data staleness.
Peak Performance & Reliable Data Sharing with Aegis Softtech
The only way to achieve peak performance in your Snowflake environment is to understand the critical need for seamless data sharing. Optimization is not just about implementation. The goal should be to unlock maximum efficiency and foster collaboration across your organization and with external partners.
At Aegis Softtech, we specialize in elevating your Snowflake capabilities to new heights. Our team of Snowflake experts focuses on implementing robust solutions for seamless data sharing and fine-tuning your data architecture for optimal speed and cost-efficiency.
We’re here to ensure your data infrastructure not only scales but also enables secure data exchange.
Transform your data strategy into a valuable holding for innovation and collaboration. Connect with us and explore how our expertise can revolutionize your data operations.
FAQs
Q1. What is the concept of data sharing?
Data sharing is a practice where data is made available to multiple users or organizations for collaborative analysis and insights. The goal is to break down data silos while fostering collective intelligence.
Q2. What is Snowflake DataShare?
Snowflake DataShare is a core feature that enables secure and governed exchange of data between Snowflake accounts in real-time. It happens without copying or moving the data.
Q3. How do I share the data in Snowflake?
To share data in Snowflake, create a ‘share’ object > insert specific database objects (such as tables, views, UDFs) > and grant access to a consumer account.
Q4. What are the limitations of Snowflake data sharing?
The biggest limitation of Snowflake data sharing is that consumers have read-only access. Thus, they cannot modify data or create clones of shared objects. Additionally, not all objects are shareable.
Q5. What are the three types of data sharing?
The three main types of data sharing are open, shared, and controlled. Open data type is freely available to all. The shared data type is for a specific group, but has some restrictions. Controlled data is only available to a set of users under specific conditions.
