Snowflake : How Snowflake handle backup and recovery?

In this article, we will discuss how Snowflake handles backup and recovery, and how these features help ensure the integrity and availability of your data.

Backup in Snowflake

Snowflake provides an automated backup service that takes full account backups every 24 hours, and incremental backups every 5-10 minutes. These backups are stored in an internal backup service, which is independent of the user’s data warehouse.

The frequency of incremental backups depends on the amount of data changes in the user’s account, and these backups are stored for a period of 7 days. The daily full backups are stored for a longer period, typically up to 90 days, depending on the user’s retention policy.

The backup service is designed to provide a point-in-time snapshot of the user’s entire Snowflake account, including all databases, schemas, tables, and other objects. In addition, Snowflake provides a feature called Time Travel, which allows users to query their data at any point in time, using backups and snapshots.

Recovery in Snowflake

In the event of data loss or corruption, Snowflake provides several options for recovery, depending on the severity and scope of the issue. Here are some of the recovery options available in Snowflake:

1. Rollback: Snowflake provides a feature called Rollback, which allows users to roll back their entire account to a previous point in time. This feature can be used to recover from data corruption or user error, and is typically used for recovery scenarios that affect the entire account.
2. Restore: Snowflake provides a restore feature that allows users to restore a specific database, schema, or table to a previous point in time. This feature is typically used for recovery scenarios that affect specific objects within the account.
3. Point-in-time Recovery: Snowflake provides a feature called Time Travel, which allows users to query their data at any point in time, using backups and snapshots. This feature can be used to recover specific versions of data or to verify the integrity of the data at a specific point in time.

Best Practices for Backup and Recovery

Here are some best practices for backup and recovery in Snowflake:

1. Define a Backup and Recovery Strategy: Define a backup and recovery strategy that meets your business needs and compliance requirements. Ensure that your backup and recovery strategy is regularly reviewed and tested to ensure its effectiveness.
2. Implement Time Travel: Use Snowflake’s Time Travel feature to query data at any point in time, allowing you to verify the integrity of your data and recover specific versions of data.
3. Monitor Backup and Recovery Performance: Monitor backup and recovery performance to ensure that backups are completed successfully and that recovery times meet your business needs.
4. Automate Backup and Recovery Tasks: Use Snowflake’s automation tools to automate backup and recovery tasks, reducing the workload on your IT team and ensuring consistency and reliability.

Snowflake provides a range of backup and recovery capabilities that are designed to ensure the integrity and availability of your data. With automated backups, point-in-time recovery, and other features, Snowflake enables users to quickly and easily recover from data loss or corruption, while ensuring compliance with data protection regulations. By following best practices for backup and recovery, users can ensure that their data is secure, available, and recoverable.