How to Choose Redshift over Snowflake in PostgreSQL

When should I use Redshift over Snowflake?

Understand when Amazon Redshift is the better choice than Snowflake for analytics workloads.

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Description

Why pick Redshift instead of Snowflake?

Pick Redshift when you already run on AWS, need tight VPC isolation, and want predictable node-based pricing. Its PostgreSQL 8.0.2 roots let teams reuse existing SQL and extensions without a learning curve.

Does Redshift cost less for steady workloads?

Yes. Reserved-instance pricing plus spectrum-based storage separates compute from cold data, cutting costs for always-on dashboards that rarely shrink below baseline.

How does AWS integration give Redshift an edge?

Redshift slots into AWS IAM, KMS, CloudWatch, Glue, and S3.COPY and UNLOAD stream data directly between S3 and Redshift, eliminating third-party staging fees.

Example – bulk-loading Orders from S3

COPY Orders FROM 's3://acme-ecom/orders/' IAM_ROLE 'arn:aws:iam::123:role/redshift' FORMAT AS PARQUET;

Can Redshift handle semi-structured JSON?

Redshift Spectrum external tables and the SUPER data type let you query nested JSON with SQL path syntax, avoiding Snowflake-only VARIANT.

What performance tuning options matter?

DISTKEY, SORTKEY, and RA3 managed storage keep frequently scanned ecommerce facts (OrderItems) hot while archiving cold partitions to S3 automatically.

Best practice – co-locate joins

Define DISTKEY(customer_id) on Orders and OrderItems so joins stay on the same node, slashing shuffle time.

When does Snowflake win instead?

Choose Snowflake for bursty, multi-cloud analytics with frequent zero-usage periods, or when automatic clustering and latest ANSI features outweigh AWS lock-in.

Key takeaway

Use Redshift for AWS-centric, always-on ecommerce analytics that benefit from familiar PostgreSQL SQL, VPC control, and lower predictable spend.

Why How to Choose Redshift over Snowflake in PostgreSQL is important

How to Choose Redshift over Snowflake in PostgreSQL Example Usage


-- Create a materialized view of daily revenue in Redshift
CREATE MATERIALIZED VIEW daily_revenue AS
SELECT order_date::date   AS dt,
       SUM(total_amount)  AS revenue
FROM   Orders
GROUP  BY dt
ORDER  BY dt;

How to Choose Redshift over Snowflake in PostgreSQL Syntax


-- Table with distribution and sort keys in Redshift
CREATE TABLE OrderItems (
    id            BIGINT IDENTITY(1,1),
    order_id      BIGINT NOT NULL,
    product_id    BIGINT NOT NULL,
    quantity      INTEGER,
    PRIMARY KEY(id)
)
DISTSTYLE KEY
DISTKEY(order_id)
SORTKEY(order_id);

-- Bulk load Orders from S3
COPY Orders
FROM 's3://acme-ecom/orders/'
CREDENTIALS 'aws_access_key_id=<key>;aws_secret_access_key=<secret>'
FORMAT AS JSON 'auto'
REGION 'us-east-1'
TIMEFORMAT 'auto'
TRUNCATECOLUMNS
MAXERROR 100;

-- Query with distribution-aware join
SELECT c.id,
       c.name,
       SUM(oi.quantity * p.price) AS lifetime_value
FROM   Customers   c
JOIN   Orders      o  ON o.customer_id = c.id
JOIN   OrderItems  oi ON oi.order_id   = o.id
JOIN   Products    p  ON p.id          = oi.product_id
GROUP  BY c.id, c.name
ORDER  BY lifetime_value DESC;

Common Mistakes

Ignoring DISTKEY/SORTKEY in Redshift leads to full-node data shuffles and slow joins. Always set keys based on largest fact table joins.
Under-provisioning concurrency scaling slots causes queueing. Monitor queue depth in CloudWatch and enable automatic scaling to keep dashboards snappy.

Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs)

Is Redshift still PostgreSQL?

Redshift started as a fork of PostgreSQL 8.0.2, so most standard SQL works. Some features (e.g., window functions) differ, and superuser access is limited.

Can Redshift pause like Snowflake?

Not entirely. You can resize to zero nodes only by snapshotting and deleting the cluster, which incurs downtime. Use RA3 with elastic resize for savings.