Does Snowflake store all data in S3?

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Let's say I import some data from on-prem SQL Server to Snowflake. Where does this data get stored?

In the Snowflake website it says:

When data is loaded into Snowflake, Snowflake reorganizes that data into its internal optimized, compressed, columnar format. Snowflake stores this optimized data in cloud storage.

Does cloud storage mean S3 in case of AWS? If not, what then?

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amazon-web-servicessnowflake-cloud-data-platform
Short, basic answer: yes. But there could be more nuance to the answer depending on why are you wondering abou this. – Felipe Hoffa
@FelipeHoffa Thanks. I want to know how Snowflake works. One key piece is where all the data is stored. – LoMaPh
Let's approach this question from a different place: If the data is not stored in S3, where else could it be stored? – Felipe Hoffa
@FelipeHoffa Please see my last comment on Mike's answer. If my statement in that comment is correct, it shows how it has been a source of misunderstanding. – LoMaPh
Let's say "all data is safely stored in S3". Is that the answer you are looking for? Can you explain why this answer would not be satisfactory to you? – Felipe Hoffa

1 Answers

2
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Yes. The data is ultimately stored on S3.

A more complete answer for you:

http://info.snowflake.net/rs/252-RFO-227/images/Snowflake_SIGMOD.pdf