We’re thrilled to introduce a new Streamlit user interface for the phData Advisor Snowflake Native Application. This interface makes setup and operations effortless while retaining the power of procedure‑based automation.
In this blog, we’ll explore its key features, configuration, and how to use the UI daily.
What is the Advisor Snowflake Native Application?
The phData Advisor tool is widely available on the Snowflake Marketplace as a native application that helps you effectively manage your Snowflake environment by providing insights into account configuration, security, performance, and efficiency.
The Advisor tool scans your environment with a set of pre-configured checks to identify areas for improvement and provides recommendations. The scan results are saved in your Snowflake account and visualized in an interactive HTML report. You can also customize the checks and even create your own.
For additional details on how to utilize the Advisor tool, please refer to this blog post outlining the top 5 use cases of phData’s Advisor tool.
Advisor User Interface Features
The Advisor UI has two pages: a configuration page and a dashboard page.
NOTE: When you first open the UI, you will be prompted to grant the privilege below to access the ACCOUNT_USAGE schema. Without this privilege, the application cannot access the Snowflake database, and the majority of the checks will fail.
Configuration Page
The configuration page guides you through:
Enabling all checks (required)
Enabling email alerts
Granting application permissions to roles other than
ACCOUNTADMINViewing and upgrading the license
Configuring custom checks
Enabling All Checks
To provide a comprehensive scan of the account, users must execute the SQL provided in this section. This additional SQL creates a wrapper procedure that allows the native application to get the results of SHOW statements, which native applications cannot execute. After running this SQL, scanning will be enabled in the dashboard page.
Enabling Email Alerts
This procedure, along with notification integration and tasks, executes scans on a schedule and configures email notifications for new reports.
Granting Application Permissions
To allow other roles to access the application, grant the application role to the desired role.
Viewing and Upgrading the License
The Advisor application displays the current license type, its expiration date, and instructions for generating an authentication token to upgrade to a pro license.
Configuring Custom Checks
Users have the flexibility to configure new custom checks, as well as modify or remove existing ones. The configured custom checks are available for download directly within the application.
Dashboard Page
The Advisor Dashboard page is your single cockpit for operating the Advisor tool and viewing scan results. You can scan, regenerate report URLs (they expire after 7 days), and refresh results using dedicated buttons. The interface includes a data table with previous scan results, so you can easily view previous scans.
Getting Started
The phData Advisor Snowflake Native Application is easier to configure and use than ever before! If you want valuable insights into your Snowflake account, get started with the Advisor tool today!
Ready to learn more?
Contact us to learn more about the Advisor Native Application and other applications. We also recommend exploring our tools in phData’s Toolkit.
