Mastering Iceberg in Snowflake with AWS – Complete Hands-On

Name: Mastering Iceberg in Snowflake with AWS – Complete Hands-On
Rating: 4.7 (6 reviews)

Step-by-step guide to mastering Iceberg tables in Snowflake with AWS integration, features, and best practices.

Created byDE & AI Engineering Simplified

Last updated 9/2025

English

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What you'll learn

Build and manage Apache Iceberg tables in Snowflake with AWS S3, IAM roles, and Glue catalog integration.
Perform inserts, updates, deletes, time travel, and cloning with Iceberg tables for real-world data workflows.
Monitor and optimize Iceberg performance using Snowflake Account Usage, metadata insights, and storage metrics.
Apply advanced features like streams, dynamic tables, and external catalogs to design enterprise-ready Iceberg solutions.

Course content

6 sections • 35 lectures • 4h 27m total length

Why Does Snowflake Support Iceberg Tables4:39
Learn why Snowflake supports Apache Iceberg tables, compare Iceberg with CSV, Parquet, Hive tables, and Delta Lake, and follow a practical hands-on path on AWS.
[Optional] This course is not for you if1:30
[Optional] Who This Course is For and What It Covers2:15
Explore how to set up and evaluate Apache Iceberg tables in Snowflake on AWS, with external catalogs, S3, AWS Glue, and governance considerations.
Course Roadmap: What You’ll Learn, Step by Step5:19
Technical Prerequisite0:57
Identify and prepare the essential prerequisites for hands-on practice: a Snowflake free trial, an AWS free tier account, a code editor such as VS Code, and a JSON visualizer.
Downloadable Resources: Diagrams, Code & Data Files2:22
Download the complete resource zip, unzip it in your editor, and validate SQL files, data files, diagrams, and metadata per module for hands-on practice with Snowflake and AWS.

Snowflake–Iceberg Integration Basics6:37
Learn how Snowflake securely connects with AWS S3 for Iceberg data operations.
What is Cloud Storage Integration?
Secure bridge between Snowflake & S3
IAM policies & permissions
[Optional] Quiz-1: Snowflake + Apache Iceberg
AWS S3, Policy & Role Creation10:37
Set up AWS resources with proper naming conventions to securely connect Snowflake and S3.
Snowflake External Storage Volume & Iceberg Table Creation10:55
Build the external volume in Snowflake, establish trust with AWS, and create your first Iceberg table.
[Optional] Quiz-2: Snowflake Objects for Iceberg Integration
Analyzing Iceberg Metadata Files (JSON & AVRO)7:44
Explore metadata, manifest, and Avro files in S3 to understand how inserts are tracked.
Deep Dive - Apache Iceberg Table in Snowflake34:17
Work with a large Iceberg table, perform DML operations, compare with standard Snowflake tables.
[Optional] Snowflake Iceberg Table Concepts & Behavior
Monitoring Iceberg with Account Usage13:47
Leverage Snowflake account usage views to track storage, pruning, and DML activity for Iceberg tables.
Snowflake Account Usage & Iceberg Tables: Monitoring and Storage

Iceberg Table Features On Snowflake0:44
Explore how iceberg tables in Snowflake integrate with Snowflake features, from creating iceberg tables with additional parameters and the change tracking clause to cloning, streams, dynamic tables, and cross-account sharing.
Creating Iceberg Tables in Snowflake with Additional Parameters13:13
Create an Iceberg table in Snowflake with additional parameters, including date retention, max date retention, target file size, and storage policy, then examine constraints and metadata in the catalog.
[Optional] Snowflake Iceberg Parameters & Constraints Quiz
Creating Temp & Transient Iceberg Table In Snowflake1:23
Using Change Tracking with Iceberg Tables in Snowflake15:01
Enable change tracking on iceberg tables in Snowflake to capture deletes, updates, and inserts; inspect changes using the change clause, metadata, and JSON history for debugging data pipelines.
[Optional] Snowflake Iceberg Change Tracking Quiz
Cloning Iceberg Tables in Snowflake12:22
Learn how to clone iceberg tables in Snowflake using zero-copy cloning on external volumes, explore base locations and time-travel behavior, and compare clone versus original tables.
[Optional] Snowflake Iceberg Clone Quiz
Streams on Iceberg Tables in Snowflake8:46
[Optional] Snowflake Iceberg Stream Quiz
Dynamic Tables on Iceberg Tables in Snowflake7:43
Learn to create dynamic iceberg tables in Snowflake, a wrapper on top of SQL that automatically reflects upstream changes and minimizes merge complexity for CDC use cases.
Snowflake Direct Share With Iceberg Tables2:01
Learn how Snowflake direct share enables iceberg table sharing across accounts using the account admin role, private sharing, and create direct share, including sharing within AWS us-west-2 and adding consumers.
Create or Replace Iceberg Tables in Snowflake4:48
Understand create or replace iceberg tables in Snowflake and how data persists in S3 even after dropping or recreating tables, revealing metadata vs data retention and potential bucket clutter.

External Catalog Configuration Architecture4:04
Glue catalog setup, S3 bucket, roles, Snowflake external volume & catalog integration, and managed vs unmanaged context
Create S3 & Glue Service with IAM Role in AWS9:23
Create S3 bucket, Glue database, Iceberg table via Athena, and IAM roles for S3 and Glue access with proper trust and policies.
Snowflake–AWS Glue Integration with External Volumes and Iceberg13:33
Learn how Snowflake integrates with AWS Glue using external volumes, catalog integration, and Iceberg tables for unified data access.
[Optional] Snowflake–AWS Glue Iceberg Integration Essentials
Unmanaged Iceberg Table Metadata & Time Travel8:46
Review unmanaged iceberg table metadata and time travel across AWS Athena and Snowflake. Compare AWS Glue and Snowflake managed iceberg metadata, and explore JSON files in S3.
Register a Hive Table as Iceberg Table3:05
Learn how to register a Hive table as an Iceberg table in Snowflake when the source is a Parquet file, using external tables, Hive metastore, and AWS Glue for classification.
Data Type Mapping in Snowflake with Unmanaged Iceberg Tables7:10
[Optional] Iceberg Data Types and Unmanaged Table Integration
Converting Unmanaged Iceberg Tables to Managed in Snowflake11:12
[Optional] Snowflake Iceberg: Unmanaged vs Managed Table Conversion
Snowflake Feature Applicability For Unmanaged Iceberg Tables3:01

Introduction2:25
Explore how to load data into iceberg tables using Snowflake's copy command from external stages, including S3, covering managed and unmanaged iceberg formats and JSON, CSV, or Parquet data.
Standard COPY Command for Iceberg Tables in Snowflake8:29
Learn how Snowflake’s standard COPY command loads Iceberg tables and supports six file formats including CSV and Parquet.
[Optional] Snowflake COPY Command Basics for Iceberg Tables
Copy Command & Load Modes in Snowflake Iceberg Tables10:36
Learn how Snowflake handles COPY with Iceberg tables, comparing load modes, file formats, and query profiles.
[Optional] Iceberg Copy Command & Load Mode Quiz
Thank You and Final Course Wrap-Up1:55
Develop hands-on mastery of Iceberg tables in Snowflake with AWS by building resources, enabling transactions, performing insert, update, delete, and cloning, and integrating AWS Glue as an external catalog.

Requirements

No prior experience with Apache Iceberg is required — everything is explained step by step.
A basic understanding of SQL and data concepts will be helpful but not mandatory.
Access to a Snowflake free trial account is recommended to follow along with the hands-on labs.
An AWS free tier account is needed to practice S3 bucket setup, IAM policies, and Glue catalog integration.

Description

Are you ready to move beyond traditional tables and unlock the true power of Apache Iceberg in Snowflake with AWS?

This course is designed for data engineers, architects, and cloud professionals who want to build modern, scalable, and cost-efficient data platforms using Iceberg.

Traditional tables often struggle with performance, flexibility, and long-term storage costs. That’s where Apache Iceberg comes in—an open table format that enables advanced features like schema evolution, time travel, zero-copy cloning, and seamless integration with cloud storage. But understanding how to implement Iceberg in Snowflake and leverage Iceberg in AWS is where most professionals get stuck.

This hands-on course removes the complexity and gives you a step-by-step learning path:

Learn the differences between internal, external, and Iceberg tables in Snowflake.
Master AWS S3 integration, IAM policies, and Glue catalog for Iceberg in AWS.
Create and optimize Iceberg tables in Snowflake with real datasets.
Perform inserts, updates, deletes, and time-travel queries.
Monitor usage, track metadata, and ensure performance at scale.
Explore advanced features like cloning, streams, and dynamic Iceberg tables.

By the end of this course, you will not only understand Apache Iceberg concepts, but also know how to implement them in Snowflake with AWS for real-world enterprise use cases.

If you’re serious about future-proofing your data engineering career, this is the course you can’t afford to miss.

Who this course is for:

Data engineers looking to implement Iceberg tables for scalable and flexible data pipelines.
Cloud and Snowflake practitioners who want to integrate AWS S3, IAM, and Glue Catalog with Snowflake Iceberg.
Data architects seeking to design cost-efficient, future-proof data platforms with open table formats.
Technical leads and managers who want to understand Iceberg’s role in performance optimization, governance, and storage management.

Mastering Iceberg in Snowflake with AWS – Complete Hands-On

What you'll learn

Explore related topics

Course content

Apache Iceberg Tables In Snowflake - Introduction6 lectures • 17min

Creating Apache Iceberg Tables in Snowflake with AWS6 lectures • 1hr 24min

Section-039 lectures • 1hr 6min

Snowflake & Iceberg: Data Type Support and Transaction Behaviour2 lectures • 17min

AWS Glue & Snowflake Iceberg: External Catalog Mastery8 lectures • 1hr

Copy Data Into Apache Iceberg Table In Snowflake4 lectures • 23min

Requirements

Description

Who this course is for: