Snowflake’s features

With its revolutionary cloud architecture, Snowflake continues to innovate and (pleasantly) surprise its users with game-changing performance enhancements beyond those that made it famous from its inception. While this is by no means a comprehensive list, the following sections highlight some of the most exciting and relevant features when it comes to data modeling.

Zero-copy cloning

Zero-copy cloning allows Snowflake users to clone data without physically duplicating it. Not having to move data means cloning happens instantly—whether cloning a table or an entire database. Cloned objects are virtual copies of their source, so they do not incur storage costs. Once data changes occur in the clone or its source, the clone becomes a physical object and begins consuming storage resources.

Cloning is an ideal way to create system backups and testing environments—achieving in seconds what used to take days. At the object level, cloning is...