A Snowflake Architect is setting up database replication to support a disaster recovery plan. The primary database has external tables. How should the database be replicated?

Question

Options

• ACreate a clone of the primary database then replicate the database.
• BMove the external tables to a database that is not replicated, then replicate the primary database.
• CReplicate the database ensuring the replicated database is in the same region as the external
• DShare the primary database with an account in the same region that the database will be

• A
  3% (1)
• B
  78% (29)
• C
  14% (5)
• D
  5% (2)

Explanation

External tables in Snowflake are metadata objects that point to files in an external stage (S3, Azure Blob, GCS). The actual data is not stored in Snowflake and therefore cannot be replicated as part of database replication - Snowflake replication only covers internal data and metadata. If you attempt to replicate a database containing external tables, those tables cannot be meaningfully replicated to a different cloud region or account. The correct approach is to move the external tables to a separate database that is intentionally excluded from replication, then replicate the primary database (which now contains only internally-stored objects). Option C is incorrect because external tables reference external cloud storage, and region co-location does not solve the replication limitation. Option D (sharing) is not a DR strategy. Option A (cloning) does not address replication to another account.

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