Snowflake

Introduction

Snowflake enables data storage, processing, and analytics solutions that are flexible, fast, and easy to use. It was not built on any existing database technology or “big data” software platforms such as Hadoop. Instead, Snowflake combines a completely new SQL query engine with an innovative architecture natively designed for the cloud.

Read more about its features and how to get started with the popular platform here.

If you want to use this platform to host your DataChannel-aggregated data, you can either build & manage your own Snowflake or use a DataChannel Managed one. This document will show you how you can connect / provision a Snowflake based warehouse in minutes using the DataChannel Platform.

Self Managed Snowflake

Prerequisites for connecting your Snowflake Cluster

Create a Snowflake Cluster with adequate capacity to be able to store the volume of data you anticipate storing.

Step By Step Guide

Step 1: Click on Data Warehouses tab in the left side bar navigation to reach the Data Warehouses Module as shown below.
Step 2: Click on Add New to add an additional Data Warehouse to your account.
Step 3: Select Snowflake from the Storage Type drop down options.
Step 4: Enter the details about your Snowflake cluster in the form and click on Save to add the warehouse. An explanation of each of the fields in the form has been given below.

Field	Description
Name	*Required* Provide a name for your warehouse. It needs to be unique across your account.
Use DataChannel Snowflake	*Required* Leave this toggle off so that you can specify your own S3 bucket.
Account	*Required* Provide your Snowflake account name here. You can access directly from the URL. Example: ACCOUNT NAME.snowflakecomputing.com
Username	*Required* Provide a username which will be used to create the tables and load data. This user needs to have all rights on the database, datawarehouse(only usage), and the schema you intend to use. In case you are creating a dedicated schema for the data from DataChannel (which is recommended), then this user can be the schema owner.
Password	*Required* Provide the password for the username entered above.
Warehouse Name	*Required* Provide the name of the Warehouse. This can be accessed from the Warehouses Tab.
DB Name	*Required* Provide the name of the database you have created in your Snowflake instance.
Schema Name	*Required* Provide the database schema where DataChannel should push the data. As mentioned above, it is recommended to create a new schema for DataChannel in your database.
Snowflake Stage Name	*Required* Provide the Internal Stage name here that should be used to load data to tables. This internal stage should be created in the same database which is being used to load data. This can be accessed from the Databases Tab. Cick on the Database you are using and Go to the Stages Tab.

Field

Description

Name

Required

Provide a name for your warehouse. It needs to be unique across your account.

Use DataChannel Snowflake

Required

Leave this toggle off so that you can specify your own S3 bucket.

Account

Required

Provide your Snowflake account name here. You can access directly from the URL. Example: ACCOUNT NAME.snowflakecomputing.com

Username

Required

Provide a username which will be used to create the tables and load data. This user needs to have all rights on the database, datawarehouse(only usage), and the schema you intend to use. In case you are creating a dedicated schema for the data from DataChannel (which is recommended), then this user can be the schema owner.

Password

Required

Provide the password for the username entered above.

Warehouse Name

Required

Provide the name of the Warehouse. This can be accessed from the Warehouses Tab.

DB Name

Required

Provide the name of the database you have created in your Snowflake instance.

Schema Name

Required

Provide the database schema where DataChannel should push the data. As mentioned above, it is recommended to create a new schema for DataChannel in your database.

Snowflake Stage Name

Required

Provide the Internal Stage name here that should be used to load data to tables. This internal stage should be created in the same database which is being used to load data. This can be accessed from the Databases Tab. Cick on the Database you are using and Go to the Stages Tab.

DataChannel Managed Snowflake

The process to add a DataChannel managed warehouse is very simple. Just switch the Toggle Use DataChannel Snowflake to ON and click on Save.

Still have Questions?

We’ll be happy to help you with any questions you might have! Send us an email at info@datachannel.co.

Subscribe to our Newsletter for latest updates at DataChannel.