Which of the following statements about External Tables in Snowflake are true?

Question

Options

• AExternal tables store data within Snowflake's internal storage.
• BExternal tables can be directly updated using standard SQL DML statements (INSERT, UPDATE,
• CExternal tables provide read-only access to data stored in external cloud storage locations.
• DExternal tables require a virtual warehouse to be online for data access.
• EChanges to the underlying files in the external stage are automatically reflected in the external

• A
  3% (1)
• B
  6% (2)
• C
  88% (29)
• E
  3% (1)

Explanation

C is correct because external tables act as a metadata overlay on files in external cloud storage (S3, Azure Blob, GCS) - Snowflake never moves or copies the data, so all access is inherently read-only. D is correct because even though the data lives outside Snowflake, a virtual warehouse is still required to provide the compute power to scan, filter, and return query results.

Why the distractors are wrong:

• A is the opposite of reality - external tables specifically exist to avoid loading data into Snowflake's internal storage.
• B is wrong because external tables are read-only by design; DML statements (INSERT, UPDATE, DELETE) are not supported.
• E is wrong because changes to underlying files are not automatically reflected - you must manually run ALTER EXTERNAL TABLE ... REFRESH or configure auto-refresh via cloud event notifications (e.g., Snowpipe).

Memory tip: Think of an external table as a window, not a warehouse - you can look through it at data sitting outside (read-only, requires compute to process), but you can't rearrange what's on the other side, and you have to wipe the glass yourself when the view changes.

No community discussion yet for this question.