🏭🗒️Microsoft Fabric: Warehouse Snapshots [Notes] 🆕

Disclaimer: This is work in progress intended to consolidate information from various sources for learning purposes. For the latest information please consult the documentation (see the links below)! 

Last updated: 23-May-2025

[Microsoft Fabric] Warehouse Snapshots

• {def} read-only representation of a warehouse at a specific point in time [1]
• allows support for analytics, reporting, and historical analysis scenarios without worrying about the volatility of live data updates [1]
• provide a consistent and stable view of data [1]
• ensuring that analytical workloads remain unaffected by ongoing changes or ETL  operations [1]
• {benefit} guarantees data consistency
• the dataset remains unaffected by ongoing ETL processes [1]
• {benefit} immediate roll-Forward updates
• can be seamlessly rolled forward on demand to reflect the latest state of the warehouse
• ⇒ {benefit} consumers access the same snapshot using a consistent connection string, even from third-party tools [1]
• ⇐ updates are applied immediately, as if in a single, atomic transaction [1]
• {benefit} facilitates historical analysis
• snapshots can be created on an hourly, daily, or weekly basis to suit their business requirements [1]
• {benefit} enhanced reporting
• provides a point-in-time reliable dataset for precise reporting [1]
• ⇐ free from disruptions caused by data modifications [1]
• {benefit} doesn't require separate storage [1]
• relies on source Warehouse [1]
• {limit} doesn't support database objects 
• {limit} capture a state within the last 30 days
• {operation} create snapshot
• via New warehouse snapshot
• multiple snapshots can be created for the same parent warehouse [1]
• appear as child items of the parent warehouse in the workspace view [1]
• the queries run against provide the current version of the data being accessed [1]
• {operation} read properties 
• via 
• GET https://api.fabric.microsoft.com/v1/workspaces/{workspaceId}/items/{warehousesnapshotId} Authorization: Bearer <bearer token>
• {operation} update snapshot timestamp
• allows users to roll forward data instantly, ensuring consistency [1]
• use current state
• via ALTER DATABASE [<snapshot name>] SET TIMESTAMP = CURRENT_TIMESTAMP; 
• use point in time
• ALTER DATABASE snapshot SET TIMESTAMP = 'YYYY-MM-DDTHH:MM:SS.SS'//UTC time
• queries that are in progress during point in time update will complete against the version of data they were started against [1]
• {operation} rename snapshot
• {operation} delete snapshot
• via DELETE
• when the parent warehouse gets deleted, the snapshot is also deleted [1]
• {operation} modify source table
• DDL changes to source will only impact queries in the snapshot against tables affected [1]
• {operation} join multiple snapshots
• the resulting snapshot date will be applied to each warehouse connection [1]
• {operation} retrieve metadata
• via sys.databases [1]
• [permissions] inherited from the source warehouse [1]
• ⇐ any permission changes in the source warehouse applies instantly to the snapshot [1]
• security updates on source database will be rendered immediately to the snapshot databases [1]
• {limitation} can only be created against new warehouses [1]
• created after Mar-2025
• {limitation} do not appear in SSMS Object Explorer but will show up in the database selection dropdown [1]
• {limitation} datetime can be set to any date in the past up to 30 days or database creation time (whichever is later)  [1]
• {limitation} modified objects after the snapshot timestamp become invalid in the snapshot [1]
• applies to tables, views, and stored procedures [1]
• {limitation} must be recreated if the data warehouse is restored [1]
• {limitation} aren’t supported on the SQL analytics endpoint of the Lakehouse [1]
• {limitation} aren’t supported as a source for OneLake shortcuts [1]
•  [Power BI]{limitation} require Direct Query or Import mode [1]
• don’t support Direct Lake

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References:

[1] Microsoft Learn (2025) Fabric: Warehouse Snapshots in Microsoft Fabric (Preview) [link]

[2] Microsoft Learn (2025) Warehouse snapshots (preview) [link]

[3] Microsoft Learn (2025) Create and manage a warehouse snapshot (preview) [link]

Resources:

Acronyms:

DDL - Data Definition Language
ETL - Extract, Transfer, Load

MF - Microsoft Fabric
SSMS - SQL Server Management Studio