Snowflake SnowPro Certification Practice Test

Where does Results Caching reside in Snowflake's structure?

1. Compute layer

2. Storage layer

3. Cloud Services layer

4. Virtual Warehouse layer

The correct answer is: Cloud Services layer

Results Caching resides in the Cloud Services layer of Snowflake's architecture. This is because the Cloud Services layer is responsible for managing various services that facilitate computation, such as query parsing, optimization, and handling of metadata. It also plays a critical role in managing the results and caching them to expedite query performance. When a query is executed, if its results have already been cached within this layer, Snowflake can return the cached results quickly without needing to re-execute the query, thus optimizing performance and improving user experience. This is distinct from other layers: the Compute layer is where virtual warehouses execute queries; the Storage layer is dedicated to storing data; and the Virtual Warehouse layer, while related to compute resources, does not directly manage results caching. Understanding the roles of these layers is key to grasping how Snowflake functions efficiently and effectively.