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What Is Zero Copy Cloning in Snowflake? July 2025 Update
Zero Copy Cloning in Snowflake is a smart and cost-saving feature. It lets users create copies of data without using extra storage. In this July 2025 update, we explore new features, simple examples, and common questions. Whether you're new or advanced, this guide is for you Snowflake Online Course Hyderabad.
Table of Contents
1. What Is Zero Copy Cloning in Snowflake?
2. How Does Zero Copy Cloning Work?
3. July 2025 Features and Enhancements
4. Cloning Examples and Use Cases
5. Copy Grants and Clone Permissions
6. FAQs – Latest Questions and Answers
What Is Zero Copy Cloning in Snowflake?
Zero Copy Cloning in Snowflake is a smart feature. It creates a copy of a database or table without using extra space. This means no actual data is copied. Only the metadata changes.
When you clone, Snowflake links the new object to the old one. It reads data from the original until the clone is changed. Then it starts saving the new changes. This is fast and saves cost.
You can create clones in seconds. Developers ...
... love this for testing and backup Snowflake Training.
How Does Zero Copy Cloning Work?
Zero Copy Cloning works using Snowflake's unique architecture. The clone points to the original data blocks. This is known as metadata-level cloning.
If you update the clone, Snowflake saves only the changes. This keeps storage small. You don’t pay for the full data twice.
This is why it is called “Zero Copy.” Because no full copy is made.
Snowflake allows cloning of many objects. These include databases, schemas, tables, and even streams. For example, if you want to clone a table, just run this simple command:
CREATE TABLE sales_clone CLONE sales;
This creates a full working copy in no time. Visualpath teaches this step-by-step in their Snowflake training.
July 2025 Features and Enhancements
In July 2025, Snowflake made Zero Copy Cloning even better. The latest update adds support for:
• Cloning across regions with less delay
• Faster clone refresh sync
• Clear tracking of clone changes
One big feature is the ability to clone across clouds. For example, clone a table from AWS to Azure. This helps big teams work on the same data from different places.
Another update is smart versioning. Now you can roll back to older clone states. This is helpful for debugging. It saves time and effort.
These new features were added on July 1, 2025, during the Snowflake Summit release. Visualpath has already included this in their 2025 course material Snowflake Online Course Hyderabad.
Cloning Examples and Use Cases
Zero Copy Cloning is used in many ways. Here is a simple example:
Let’s say you have a table named customer_data. You want to test some changes. Instead of copying data, run:
CREATE TABLE customer_test CLONE customer_data;
Now you have a test table. It acts like the real one but uses no space. Any change in the test table does not affect the real data.
Developers use this in dev, test, and prod environments. You can also clone a full database like this:
CREATE DATABASE db_clone CLONE db_original;
This saves hours of work. Cloning also works great when sharing data between teams.
Some users ask about Zero-copy clone in Databricks. That is different. Snowflake cloning is metadata-based. Databricks uses delta lake snapshots. They are not the same.
Copy Grants and Clone Permissions
One big question is about copying grants. When you clone a table or database, by default, the grants are not copied. You need to add COPY GRANTS to your clone statement.
Here’s how:
CREATE TABLE sales_clone CLONE sales COPY GRANTS;
This keeps the same roles and access on the new object. This feature is useful in big teams. It saves time Snowflake Training.
If you want to copy grants from one table to another, you can also use scripts. Visualpath teaches this in the advanced Snowflake class. This helps you manage security better.
Only certain services provide full Zero Copy Cloning. This includes Snowflake Enterprise Edition and above. It is not available in some lower plans.
FAQs – Latest Questions and Answers
What is zero copy cloning in Snowflake July 2025 update YouTube?
It is a method to clone data objects without copying the full data. July 2025 adds cloud-to-cloud cloning and better version tracking. You can find simple demos on YouTube or through Visualpath training.
Zero-copy clone Snowflake documentation?
Snowflake has official docs. But Visualpath also gives easy-to-follow lessons in video format. These are perfect for learners.
Zero Copy Cloning Snowflake example?
Yes. For example:
CREATE SCHEMA test_schema CLONE prod_schema;
This clone has all tables but uses no extra space.
Zero-copy clone Databricks?
Databricks has Delta Cloning, which is different. Snowflake cloning is more efficient for large datasets.
Which objects can be cloned in Snowflake?
You can clone databases, schemas, tables, streams, and materialized views. Not all objects support cloning with history.
Which of the following services provision Zero Copy Cloning in Snowflake?
Enterprise Edition and higher. Standard Edition does not support full zero copy features.
Copy GRANTS Snowflake example?
CREATE TABLE emp_clone CLONE emp COPY GRANTS;
This keeps the same access rules as the original.
Copy grants from one table to another Snowflake?
Use scripting to pull grants and reapply them. Visualpath covers this deeply in the live sessions.
Final Words
Zero Copy Cloning is one of Snowflake’s best features. It saves time, cost, and storage. In 2025, it’s even more powerful. Learning this with Visualpath can help anyone master Snowflake. It is fast, simple, and perfect for real-world projects.
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