The Snowflake Connector
Archive Snowflake tables, schemas, and historical datasets to cost-optimized Lakehouse storage. Reduce storage and compute costs for data that must be retained but is accessed infrequently.
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Snowflake Data Archiving, Done Right
Archon’s Snowflake Connector extracts tables, time-travel snapshots, and schema structures from Snowflake environments and archives them into open Parquet and Delta Lake formats on your Lakehouse. Purpose-built for organizations that need to satisfy multi-year regulatory retention mandates without incurring Snowflake storage and compute costs on infrequently accessed data.
Snowflake’s Time Travel and Fail-safe features are not an archive. They are operational recovery mechanisms with 90-day maximum retention. For compliance obligations spanning 5, 7, or 10 years, Archon provides a dedicated archive layer that remains searchable through Archon Analyzer without consuming Snowflake credits.
- Native Snowflake APIs and bulk COPY INTO for large table volume extraction
- Databases, schemas, tables, views, time-travel snapshots, and access logs captured
- Schema structure, column types, and clustering metadata preserved
- Query archived data across schemas through Archon Analyzer without Snowflake compute costs
- SEC, FINRA, HIPAA, GDPR, and SOX retention policy support
Capabilities
Everything You Need for Snowflake Data Operations
Beyond Time Travel: True Compliance Archiving
Snowflake Time Travel retains data for 90 days maximum. For SEC, FINRA, HIPAA, and SOX retention obligations spanning years, Archon provides an archive layer designed for long-term record preservation and regulatory review.
Cost-Optimized Cold Data Management
Aged Snowflake tables that remain in Snowflake storage but are queried infrequently are ideal candidates for archiving. Offload to Lakehouse Parquet at a fraction of Snowflake storage pricing while maintaining full queryability via Archon Analyzer.
Snowflake Account Consolidation
Organizations consolidating Snowflake accounts post-merger or post-reorganization use Archon to archive legacy account data before migration, preserving complete schema history and query access logs.
Audit Trail and Access Log Preservation
Snowflake query history, access logs, and ACCOUNT_USAGE records can be archived alongside business data to support SOC 2 Type II reviews and security audit requirements.
Use Cases
How Enterprises Use the Snowflake Connector
01 Regulatory Compliance Beyond Time Travel
Financial services firms, healthcare organizations, and government entities with 5-10 year retention obligations on Snowflake data use Archon to satisfy those mandates without maintaining Snowflake storage at full credit cost. Archive once. Query whenever a regulator asks.
02 Snowflake Storage Cost Reduction
Large Snowflake deployments accumulate cold tables that inflate storage costs without contributing to active query workloads. Archon offloads those tables to S3-based Lakehouse storage while maintaining access to historical information when needed.
03 Account Consolidation Post-Merger
Post-acquisition Snowflake account consolidations require complete schema and data history archived before the source account is decommissioned. Archon extracts the full data and delivers it in a unified Lakehouse archive.
04 Analytics Continuity on Archived Data
Archived Snowflake data remains accessible through Databricks, Athena, or Archon Analyzer, eliminating the need to keep data in Snowflake for historical analysis. Data engineering teams maintain analytical continuity on historical datasets without reactivating Snowflake.
Technical Specifications
| Specification | Details |
|---|---|
| Connection Method | Snowflake native connector / Bulk COPY INTO via Snowflake stage |
| Supported Scope | Databases, schemas, tables, views, time-travel snapshots, ACCOUNT_USAGE logs |
| Data Scope | Structured tables, semi-structured (VARIANT), access logs, query history |
| Output Format | Parquet, Delta Lake, Avro, CSV, TSV |
| Metadata Handling | Schema structure, column types, clustering keys, table comments |
| Transformation Rules | Schema normalization and VARIANT flattening supported |
| Retention Management | SEC 17a-4, FINRA 4511, HIPAA, GDPR, SOX retention schedules |
| Legal Hold | Schema and table-level hold orchestration with audit trail |
| Deployment | On-premises · Cloud (AWS) · Hybrid |
| Security & Compliance | TLS 1.3 in transit · AES-256 at rest · WORM · Cryptographic hashing |
How It Works
Up and Running in 4 Steps
01
Connect to Snowflake
Authenticate via Snowflake native connector. Archon auto-discovers all databases, schemas, tables, views, and time-travel snapshots within the account. 02
Map & Configure
Define database and schema scope, time-travel snapshot depth, clustering key handling, and jurisdiction-specific retention schedules. 03
Validate & Preview
Run a dry-run against sample Snowflake tables. Quality report flags schema drift, clustering anomalies, and time-travel availability issues before full extraction. 04
Archive & Monitor
Execute full extraction via Bulk COPY INTO. Integrity validation and timestamp tracking are applied at the table level. Archived data remains accessible through Archon Analyzer or Athena.FAQ
Common Questions About the Snowflake Connector
- 1. Does Archon satisfy compliance retention requirements that Snowflake Time Travel cannot?
Yes. Snowflake Time Travel is intended for operational recovery and has limited retention periods. Archon supports long-term preservation requirements for organizations subject to SEC, FINRA, HIPAA, and SOX regulations.
- 2. Can Archon archive Snowflake VARIANT and semi-structured data?
Yes. Archon can flatten Snowflake VARIANT columns into structured Parquet formats while preserving nested data structures for future access and analysis.
- 3. How does Archon archive Snowflake data without consuming Snowflake compute credits?
Archon uses Snowflake's COPY INTO command to stage data to an external location before archiving, limiting compute consumption primarily to the extraction process.
- 4. Can Archon archive data across multiple Snowflake accounts in the same operation?
Yes. Archon supports multi-account extraction with a single configuration, normalizing schema differences and delivering a unified archive across accounts.
- 5. Is archived Snowflake data queryable without reactivating Snowflake?
Yes. Archon archives data in open Parquet and Delta Lake formats that can be queried through Archon Analyzer, Apache Spark, Amazon Athena, and other Lakehouse-compatible tools.
Looking to reduce Snowflake storage costs while preserving historical data access?
Speak with an Archon specialist to review your retention requirements, evaluate archiving options, and plan a long-term data preservation strategy.
