How to Verify That Snowflake Is Cloud Hosted

Is Snowflake always cloud-hosted?

Yes. Snowflake is delivered solely as a Software-as-a-Service offering that runs on public-cloud infrastructure. Customers never install or manage hardware or database software.

Which cloud providers does Snowflake run on?

Snowflake clusters are provisioned inside AWS, Microsoft Azure, or Google Cloud regions that you choose during account creation. All compute, storage, and services stay inside that provider’s data centers.

How do I check my Snowflake cloud region?

Run SELECT CURRENT_REGION(); or view the region code in the Web UI (top-right corner).The value follows the format <cloud>.<region>, e.g., AWS.US-EAST-1.

What SQL commands confirm cloud hosting?

You can inspect account metadata with:

-- Show provider, region, and edition
SELECT
current_region() AS region,
current_account() AS account,
current_organization_name() AS organization;


The functions return values only available in Snowflake’s managed cloud control plane, proving the platform is SaaS.

Can I run normal business queries?

Yes. All typical analytics run unchanged.Example:

-- Top 5 customers by spend
SELECT c.id, c.name, SUM(o.total_amount) AS lifetime_value
FROM Customers c
JOIN Orders o ON o.customer_id = c.id
GROUP BY c.id, c.name
ORDER BY lifetime_value DESC
LIMIT 5;


This query executes in Snowflake’s secure cloud environment without any local servers.

Best practices for cloud-hosted Snowflake

• Pick a region close to your application to minimize latency.
• Enable multi-cluster warehouses for elastic scaling.
• Use Snowflake’s Time Travel and Fail-safe for built-in disaster recovery.

Common mistakes to avoid

Mistake 1: Planning an on-prem install.Snowflake cannot run outside the cloud.
Fix: Allocate time for cloud security reviews instead.

Mistake 2: Assuming cross-cloud replication is automatic.
Fix: Configure Database Replication or Snowgrid to span regions/providers when needed.

Further reading

Check the ACCOUNT_USAGE.REGIONS view for every available deployment option and evaluate compliance certifications per region.

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