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Snowflakecloud~10 mins

Warehouse sizes and scaling in Snowflake - Step-by-Step Execution

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Process Flow - Warehouse sizes and scaling
Start: Choose Warehouse Size
Warehouse Size Options
Warehouse Starts with Chosen Size
Scaling Decision
Scale Up
Increase Size
More Compute Power
Warehouse Processes Queries
Scale Down or Remove Clusters
End
This flow shows how you pick a warehouse size, start it, then scale up by size or scale out by adding clusters to handle more work.
Execution Sample
Snowflake
CREATE WAREHOUSE mywh WITH WAREHOUSE_SIZE = 'SMALL' WAREHOUSE_TYPE = 'STANDARD';
ALTER WAREHOUSE mywh SET WAREHOUSE_SIZE = 'MEDIUM';
ALTER WAREHOUSE mywh SET MIN_CLUSTER_COUNT = 1 MAX_CLUSTER_COUNT = 3;
ALTER WAREHOUSE mywh RESUME;
This code creates a small warehouse, scales it up to medium size, enables multi-cluster scaling, and starts it.
Process Table
StepActionWarehouse SizeClustersResult
1Create warehouse with size SMALLSMALL1Warehouse created, ready to start
2Start warehouseSMALL1Warehouse running with 1 cluster
3Scale up warehouse size to MEDIUMMEDIUM1More compute power per cluster
4Enable multi-cluster scaling (min 1, max 3)MEDIUM1-3Warehouse can add clusters automatically
5Load increases, auto scale out adds 2 clustersMEDIUM33 clusters running in parallel
6Load decreases, auto scale in removes 2 clustersMEDIUM1Back to single cluster
7Pause warehouseMEDIUM0Warehouse stopped, no compute cost
💡 Warehouse paused, no clusters running, compute stopped
Status Tracker
VariableStartAfter Step 1After Step 3After Step 4After Step 5After Step 6Final
Warehouse SizeN/ASMALLMEDIUMMEDIUMMEDIUMMEDIUMMEDIUM
ClustersN/A111-3310
StateN/ACreatedCreatedCreatedRunningRunningPaused
Key Moments - 3 Insights
Why does the warehouse size change from SMALL to MEDIUM but clusters stay at 1 initially?
Because scaling up changes the power of each cluster, not the number of clusters. Clusters remain 1 until multi-cluster scaling is enabled (see step 3 and 4 in execution_table).
How does multi-cluster scaling affect the number of clusters?
It allows the warehouse to add or remove clusters automatically between the min and max cluster count based on load (see steps 4, 5, and 6).
What happens to compute cost when the warehouse is paused?
When paused, all clusters stop and no compute resources are used, so cost stops (see step 7).
Visual Quiz - 3 Questions
Test your understanding
Look at the execution_table, what is the warehouse size after step 3?
ASMALL
BMEDIUM
CLARGE
DX-SMALL
💡 Hint
Check the 'Warehouse Size' column at step 3 in execution_table
At which step does the warehouse add more clusters due to load increase?
AStep 2
BStep 4
CStep 5
DStep 7
💡 Hint
Look for when clusters increase from 1 to 3 in execution_table
If the warehouse size was never changed from SMALL, how would step 3's 'Warehouse Size' value appear?
ASMALL
BMEDIUM
CLARGE
DX-LARGE
💡 Hint
Step 3 shows the size change; if no change, it stays as initial size
Concept Snapshot
Warehouse sizes define compute power per cluster (X-Small to X-Large).
Scaling up increases cluster size (more power per cluster).
Scaling out adds clusters (multi-cluster scaling) for parallel work.
Auto-scaling adjusts clusters based on load between min and max.
Pausing warehouse stops all clusters and compute cost.
Use ALTER commands to change size and scaling settings.
Full Transcript
This lesson shows how Snowflake warehouses start with a chosen size that sets compute power per cluster. You can scale up by increasing the warehouse size, which makes each cluster more powerful. You can also scale out by enabling multi-cluster scaling, which adds or removes clusters automatically based on workload. When load increases, more clusters run in parallel; when load decreases, clusters are removed. Pausing the warehouse stops all clusters and stops compute charges. The execution table traces creating a small warehouse, scaling it up to medium, enabling multi-cluster scaling, auto-scaling clusters, and pausing the warehouse.