Snowflake unveils Gen2 warehouse, AI tools for analytics
Snowflake has announced a series of enhancements to its data platform, introducing new compute innovations aimed at increasing speed, efficiency, and AI-driven data governance for users globally, including those in Canada.
The company has launched its Standard Warehouse – Generation 2 (Gen2), an update to its virtual warehousing service, which is now generally available. According to Snowflake, Gen2 delivers analytics performance that is 2.1 times faster than its predecessor, with the goal of allowing organisations to derive insights more quickly and support data-driven decisions at pace with AI developments.
"We're reimagining what customers can expect from a modern data platform, delivering faster performance, easier scalability, and greater value for every dollar spent. Snowflake's Gen2 more than doubles the speed of core analytics workloads, helping teams make quicker, data-driven decisions. Coupled with Adaptive Warehouses, we're enabling customers with an easier, more efficient approach to platform management where resource decisions are automated and right-sized. This isn't just about infrastructure improvements, it's about preparing your business to innovate quickly in the fast-moving AI era," said Artin Avanes, Head of Core Data Platform at Snowflake.
Alongside Gen2, Snowflake has introduced the private preview of a new service called Adaptive Compute. This service automates resource allocation and management within data warehouses, using automatic resource sizing and sharing to help users achieve better performance without increasing operational costs. Warehouses utilising Adaptive Compute, referred to as Adaptive Warehouses, are designed to optimise compute resources in real time, reducing the need for manual configuration and intervention.
Steve Ring, Director of Enterprise Database Solutions at Pfizer, commented on the announcement, highlighting the importance of operational efficiency for large enterprises.
"As one of the world's premier biopharmaceutical companies, efficiency and scalability are critical to everything we do as we race to deliver medical innovations. Snowflake's easy, connected, and trusted platform has been instrumental in streamlining our operations so that we can maximize the value of our data, and the impact we drive for end users. We're excited about the potential of Adaptive Warehouses to build on that success. What we're seeing with Adaptive Warehouses is just the beginning of a larger trend in cloud computing — the ability to dynamically adjust resources based on workload demands, without human intervention," Ring said.
Snowflake states that Gen2 was developed to address issues associated with growing data volumes and increasingly complex analytics workflows, which can slow down queries and limit productivity. The upgrade incorporates new hardware and software improvements, supporting more efficient analytics at a time when organisations are handling scalable, end-to-end data workloads.
The company also outlined a number of advancements in its Snowflake Horizon Catalog. New features include increased interoperability through Catalog-Linked Databases, which can automatically sync with Apache Iceberg objects managed by various REST Catalogs, including Apache Polaris and AWS Glue. These integrations are aimed at simplifying advanced governance and discovery across heterogeneous data environments.
Data discovery capabilities are set for expansion with External Data in Universal Search, allowing users to find and access data from external relational databases, such as PostgreSQL and MySQL, directly from the Snowflake environment. This is expected to extend data visibility for users operating across diverse platforms.
On the security and governance front, Snowflake is introducing Copilot for Horizon Catalog, an AI-powered chat interface—currently in private preview—that enables users to ask governance and security questions without requiring SQL expertise. This feature is intended to streamline oversight, enhance compliance, and accelerate security-related decision-making through conversational AI.
For improved resilience and compliance, Snowflake is rolling out point-in-time, immutable backups with the Snapshots feature, which is entering public preview. Snapshots are designed to prevent alterations or deletions after creation, providing customers with data recovery capabilities critical for regulatory and cyber resilience, especially in cases of ransomware.
The Trust Center functionality is also being extended, offering customers the ability to build and integrate partner security scanners that can be customised to meet industry-specific compliance demands. Snowflake suggests this flexibility will support companies' varying regulatory requirements.
In order to support developer productivity and faster performance optimisation, the company has generally released new AI Observability Tools, providing real-time insights and diagnostics across data environments. These additions are intended to help users rapidly identify and address issues, and to ensure informed operational decisions across their data infrastructure.
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