🏗️ Architecture Overview

Snowflake’s architecture separates the following core components:

• Storage: Scalable, fully-managed object storage layer. All your data (tables, staged files, etc.) lives here. Storage costs depend on data volume and retention features (time tavel, fail-safe).

• Compute (Virtual Warehouses): On-demand compute clusters that execute your queries. You control their size, concurrency and auto-suspend settings. Compute is the biggest cost driver in typical workflows.

• Cloud Services: Manages metadata, authentication and access control. Usually free unless it exceeds 10% of your compute usage.

• Serverless Compute: Optional, Snowflake-managed compute for specific features like:

  • Search Optimization Service (SOS)
  • Query Acceleration Service (QAS)
  • Tasks and Dynamic Tables
  • ...and other serverless features

Key concept: Storage and compute scale independently. You only pay for the compute resources (credits) you actually use, while storage is billed separately.

More info: Key Concepts & Architecture