DEA-C02 Storage and Data Protection Practice Question
A data engineer needs to protect a set of permanent tables in a Snowflake Enterprise Edition account. The requirement is to allow querying of historical versions for up to 30 days and to allow recovery of dropped tables within that same window. Which two actions should the engineer take to meet these requirements? (Choose two.)
⚠ Common exam trap
The trap here is assuming Fail-safe is configurable per table or provides queryable history, when it is actually a fixed seven-day, non-queryable layer managed by Snowflake.
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
✓
Confirm the account is on Enterprise Edition, which supports retention windows longer than the Standard Edition one-day maximum.
Meeting a 30-day queryable-history requirement on permanent tables requires Enterprise Edition, which raises the maximum retention from one day to ninety days, and an explicit DATA_RETENTION_TIME_IN_DAYS setting of 30 on each table. Transient tables cap retention at one day, Fail-safe is non-queryable and fixed at seven days, and there is no configurable FAILSAFE_DAYS parameter.
Answer analysis
Option-by-option breakdown
For each option: why learners choose it and why it is or isn't the right answer here.
- ✗
Convert the permanent tables to transient tables to increase the maximum allowed retention window.
Why it's wrong here
Transient tables have a maximum Time Travel retention of one day and do not receive Fail-safe protection. Converting permanent tables to transient would reduce, not increase, the available retention window and would remove Fail-safe coverage. This action directly contradicts the requirement for 30 days of queryable history.
- ✓
Confirm the account is on Enterprise Edition, which supports retention windows longer than the Standard Edition one-day maximum.
Why this is correct
Enterprise Edition raises the maximum Time Travel retention for permanent tables from one day to ninety days, enabling the 30-day window. Without Enterprise Edition, a 30-day retention setting would not be permitted, so verifying the edition is a prerequisite for meeting the requirement.
- ✓
Set DATA_RETENTION_TIME_IN_DAYS to 30 on each permanent table using ALTER TABLE.
Why this is correct
Enterprise Edition permits up to 90 days of Time Travel retention on permanent tables, so setting 30 days satisfies the queryable-history requirement. The ALTER TABLE ... SET DATA_RETENTION_TIME_IN_DAYS statement applies the setting to an existing table, and historical versions are then retained for the configured window.
- ✗
Rely on Fail-safe to provide the 30-day queryable history window for dropped tables.
Why it's wrong here
Fail-safe provides a seven-day, non-queryable recovery window that begins after the Time Travel period ends, and it requires Snowflake Support to restore data. It cannot be queried directly, and its duration is fixed at seven days, so it cannot satisfy a 30-day queryable history requirement.
- ✗
Enable Fail-safe on the tables by setting FAILSAFE_DAYS to 30 using ALTER TABLE.
Why it's wrong here
There is no FAILSAFE_DAYS parameter that can be set via ALTER TABLE. Fail-safe duration is fixed at seven days and is managed by Snowflake, not configurable per table. Attempting this action would fail because the parameter does not exist, and it would not provide the required queryable 30-day window.
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JA
Written and reviewed by Johnson Ajibi, MSc IT Security
Senior Network & Security Engineer · founder of Courseiva
Last reviewed September 2026 · checked against the official Snowflake exam blueprint
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