All processes on the MS SQL data warehouse server share the same set of computing resources.
Snowflake
allows you to segregate use cases into your own processing cubes, improving performance and managing costs. Unlike conventional subscription models, Snowflake only charges you for what you use. For data storage, you must pay based on the number of bytes stored in a month.Meanwhile, when it comes to computer consumption, Snowflake charges for the amount of credits used to execute queries. Again, this depends on the type of Snowflake plan you have selected and the size of the virtual store you use. When comparing Snowflake to SQL Server, you only have to pay for SQL Server licensing costs. However, this also includes server costs (electricity, cooling system, etc.) You'll also pay for timely maintenance costs and you'll always have a good budget to buy new infrastructure in case you need to expand it.
The intuitive user interface allows you to instantly answer all of these questions without anyone's help. You can always control the use of resources and stay on top of your budget with Snowflake's cost control features.
Snowflake
is a cloud-based data warehouse.Sure, you can integrate streaming data, work with unstructured data, and turn it into a comprehensive data lake. But Snowflake is a cloud-based data warehouse.Its purpose is to process data for business analysis purposes. If your use case is not creating a data warehouse, but rather an OLTP database, Snowflake's cloud-based data storage is definitely the wrong choice for you.Choosing between Snowflake or a local Microsoft SQL Server basically depends on whether you want to migrate to the cloud or not. However, if you're looking for a cloud-based solution that can incorporate data from several cloud applications, Snowflake may be that platform. If your use case is not creating a data warehouse, but rather an OLTP database (or some NoSQL database use cases, such as a document database), Snowflake is definitely the wrong choice.
The rapid increase in data in business activities is one of the main reasons I would want to switch from SQL Server to Snowflake.You can learn more about Snowflake in this tutorial, or you can read the tip Why You Would Choose Snowflake to discover some of the advantages of the Snowflake platform. With Snowflake, you can assign separate processing nodes for all the different groups that use the data warehouse. So, if your intention isn't to create a data warehouse and keep all your data on-premises, then Snowflake might not be the best option. The way Snowflake is built (with features such as time travel) means that it is very suitable for processing large amounts of data at once.The advantage of Snowflake here is that its implementation is quick to start up and you can focus only on modeling your data warehouse and writing queries.
With Snowflake, and many other offerings as a service, you give up part of the control but, in return, you get simple management. Choosing between Snowflake or a local SQL Server basically boils down to choosing whether you want to migrate to the cloud or not. It's impossible to predict that something like SQL Server will be x times cheaper or Snowflake will be more profitable in the long run.But how do Snowflake and SQL Server compare? Each one has its pros and cons and is beneficial depending on the different use cases.
