Snowflake SnowPro Certification Practice Test

What unit of time is used for the value of the auto_suspend parameter when creating a warehouse?

1. Minutes

2. Seconds

3. Hours

4. Days

The correct answer is: Seconds

The auto_suspend parameter in Snowflake determines the amount of time that a warehouse will remain in an active state before automatically transitioning to the suspended state. The value you specify for this parameter is measured in seconds. This allows for precise control over the suspension of the warehouse, enabling users to minimize costs by automatically suspending warehouses during periods of inactivity. It is essential to specify this value in seconds because this granularity helps in optimizing performance and resource usage, especially in environments where workloads can vary significantly in duration and demand. In contrast, measuring time in other units such as minutes, hours, or days would result in less control and potentially longer idle times before suspension occurs, which may lead to unnecessary costs. The use of seconds provides more flexibility and responsiveness to workload patterns.