PDE Maintaining and Automating Data Workloads Practice Question
A company wants to share a large BigQuery dataset with a partner for analysis. The partner needs read-only access to a specific snapshot of the data as of a certain point in time, and the company wants to avoid additional storage costs for the partner. What is the most cost-effective approach?
Answer choices
Why each option matters
Answer the question above first, then reveal the full breakdown to understand why each option is right or wrong.
Correct answer & explanation
✓
Create a BigQuery table snapshot at the desired point in time and share it.
BigQuery table snapshots are zero-copy, read-only, and share the underlying storage with the base table. They do not incur additional storage costs as long as the snapshot is within the time travel window (7 days default). Since the partner requires read-only access to a specific point-in-time snapshot and the company wants to avoid additional storage costs, a table snapshot is the most cost-effective approach. In contrast, table clones are writable and designed for development purposes, not read-only sharing; exporting to Cloud Storage incurs storage and egress costs; and authorized views do not provide a point-in-time snapshot and incur query costs.
Answer analysis
Option-by-option breakdown
For each option: why learners choose it and why it is or isn't the right answer here.
- ✓
Create a BigQuery table snapshot at the desired point in time and share it.
Why this is correct
Correct. BigQuery table snapshots are zero-copy, read-only, and do not incur additional storage costs within the time travel window.
- ✗
Create a BigQuery table clone at the desired point in time and share it with the partner.
Why it's wrong here
Incorrect. Table clones are writable and intended for development/testing, not for read-only sharing. They also do not provide a stable point-in-time snapshot if the clone is modified later.
- ✗
Export the table to Cloud Storage as Avro and share a signed URL.
Why it's wrong here
Incorrect. Exporting to Avro in Cloud Storage incurs export costs and storage costs. Signed URLs have expiration and security considerations, and the partner would still need to load the data, incurring additional costs.
- ✗
Grant the partner access to the original table with an authorized view.
Why it's wrong here
Incorrect. Granting access via an authorized view allows querying the original table but does not create a point-in-time snapshot. The partner's queries would incur costs on the original table, and the data could change over time.
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