Query data left in place
Access and analyze non-loaded structured and semi-structured data without moving it into tables first.
Partners and press
Overview
Not all data lives in tables. This workshop works with the data that does not.
Data Lake, Badge 4 of Hands-On Essentials, is free and self-paced and covers non-loaded data and the tools to analyze it. You work with Parquet, GeoJSON and image files, run geospatial functions and write your own user-defined function. Labs are auto-checked, the badge is not a SnowPro certification, and Snowflake advises Badges 1 to 3 first or six months of use.
7Modules
8–12Hours
4Skills
8Roles
What it covers
Learn all the way down.
Learn all the way down.
Perform when it matters.
Work with unstructured data
Handle unstructured data such as image files, using the tools Snowflake provides for it.
Use geospatial data
Work with GeoJSON files, understand what geospatial data is, and run geospatial functions on it.
Write your own function
Create a user-defined function of your own to process the data a lake holds.
Course outline
Query the files where they sit,
Query the files where they sit,
from Parquet to images to maps.
We design this course ourselves. Snowflake issues the credential, and LUNARTECH is independent of Snowflake.
Some data is not worth loading into a table, or too big to move. You learn what a data lake holds, what loaded and non-loaded data mean, and the cases in which leaving files where they are makes sense.
- Files in cloud storage: what a lake holds
- Loaded and non-loaded data compared
- Costs and speed of querying in place
- When to load and when to leave in place
- How Snowflake reaches a lake
You build A decision note placing five data sets as loaded or non-loaded, with reasons.
To query files you first have to see them. You create stages over external storage, list the files, read them directly, and define external tables so that a lake looks like a table to anyone who queries it.
- External stages over cloud storage
- Listing and sampling files
- Querying staged files directly
- External tables and refreshing them
- Access to storage and its permissions
You build An external stage and an external table over a folder of files in cloud storage.
Parquet is the usual format of a modern lake. You read its columns, let Snowflake infer a schema, query it through an external table, and load only the columns and rows you need.
- Why Parquet is built for analytics
- Inferring a schema from Parquet files
- Querying columns directly
- Partitioned folder layouts
- Loading a selection into a table
You build A query over partitioned Parquet files that returns a result without loading them all.
Files that are not tables still hold information. You catalog image files with a directory table, read their metadata, share them through controlled links, and process them with a function.
- What unstructured data is
- Directory tables for file inventories
- Reading file metadata
- Controlled links to files
- Processing images with a function
You build A catalog of an image folder in a directory table, with a function that describes each image.
Location data answers questions about where. You learn what geospatial data is, load GeoJSON files, work with Snowflake’s geography type, and run functions for distance, containment and intersection.
- Points, lines and polygons
- Loading GeoJSON files
- The GEOGRAPHY type
- Distance and containment functions
- Joining records by location
You build A query that finds which region each point of interest falls in, from GeoJSON boundaries.
A lake holds data in awkward shapes that built-in functions do not fit. You write a user-defined function, apply it to lake data, and test it before anyone relies on it.
- When built-in functions are not enough
- Writing a SQL or Python function
- Applying a function to lake data
- Testing a function on awkward inputs
You build A user-defined function that cleans one awkward field in lake data, applied in a query.
You bring structured files, images and location data together in one piece of work. You decide what to load and what to leave, query across them, and explain the choices you made.
- Choosing a question and the files to answer it
- Setting up stages and external tables
- Combining file, image and location data
- Reviewing what to load and what to leave
- Presenting the result
You build A single analysis that draws on Parquet, image and GeoJSON data left in place.
Issued by
Certifying body · Independent of LUNARTECH
Snowflake
Snowflake makes the data platform these exams cover, and its education team runs the SnowPro program. Exams are delivered through Pearson VUE, at a test center or online, and a certification lasts two years. LUNARTECH is independent of Snowflake.
How you get there
Top-tier roles go to people who can do the work.
Top-tier roles go to people who can do the work.
Here’s how you get there.
Know where you start.
Snowflake advises earning Badges 1, 2 and 3 first. Six months of hands-on Snowflake use can substitute for them.
Work through the course.
Seven modules, designed by LUNARTECH, at your own pace.
Earn it with Snowflake.
Snowflake issues the credential, so you earn it directly with them.
Support
Support at every stage.
Support at every stage.
You won’t be working through this alone.
Before you start
Try it first.
A 3-day free trial opens a selection of the content. Your card is only charged once it ends.
While you learn
Mentors within reach.
Stuck on a concept? Reach out to a mentor whenever you need help.
While you learn
One-on-one sessions.
On the yearly plan, one-on-one sessions give you dedicated support.
Any time
A team behind you.
Write to info@lunartech.ai at any point, from your trial onwards. If your employer is funding you, we’ll set it up with them directly.
All the way through
A schedule that fits around your life.
Your own paceFrom anywhereAt any hour
After the last lesson
Stay in the network.
Your alumni network stays with you: ongoing support, opportunities and industry insight.
Career support
Career support, past the last lesson. Coaching, a sharper resume, real interview preparation and the people to know.
Career direction
Tailored coaching helps you decide where to aim and how to get there.
Strong portfolio
Hands-on projects become work you can show, not just claim.
Resume and profile
Personalized refinement, so what you send says what you can actually do.
Interview preparation
Preparation for the questions that decide it, so you walk in ready.
Network and search
Connections with industry leaders, and an alumni network that stays with you.
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Why choose us
Built around how you actually learn.
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Hands-on practice
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Industry-aligned curriculum
We keep courses current with the tools, techniques and skills the field asks for.
Flexible learning
Study at your own pace, from anywhere, at any hour.
Certificate of completion
Finish the course and earn a certificate that shows what you have learned.
Focus on your success
Personalized learning plans and support structures carry you through the hard parts.
Lifetime alumni network
Stay connected after you finish, with ongoing support, opportunities and industry insight.
Your certificate
It doesn’t raise its voice. Neither will you.
Finish a LUNARTECH course and its certificate is issued in your name, under our signature. Snowflake’s credential comes from Snowflake.
Certificate of completion
Your Name
Data Lake course
LUNARTECH RISE Academy
Pricing
This course comes with the membership.
This course comes with the membership.
So does everything else.
One membership opens every course, certification, workshop and masterclass in the Academy. Every plan starts with a 3-day free trial. Snowflake issues the credential.
3 days free, then $29.97 a month. Your card is only charged once the trial ends.
Included in every plan
- Every course in the Academy
- Every certification course
- Workshops and masterclasses
- A certificate of completion
- A 3-day free trial
- Learning at your own pace
- The lifetime alumni network
- Upgrades at any time
In practice
Eight roles.
Eight roles.
One credential across them all.
No single job owns it. Here’s where each role leans hardest, and where its work ends up.
- 01Non-loaded data
- 02Unstructured
- 03Geospatial
- 04UDFs
-
Data often sits in files before it sits in tables. This badge covers reaching it there.
Non-loaded data, Unstructured, UDFs
Data lakes, Data engineering teams
-
Location data has its own types and functions. The lab runs them on real files.
Geospatial
Mapping and logistics
-
Images and Parquet files feed many models. Querying them in place saves a copy.
Non-loaded data, Unstructured
Media and image data, Data lakes
-
Routes and depots are points on a map you can query. Geospatial functions turn coordinates into distances.
Geospatial, Non-loaded data
Mapping and logistics, Data lakes
-
Image files sit in storage and you reach them with SQL. Metadata about each file sits beside the pixels.
Unstructured, Non-loaded data
Media and image data, Data lakes
-
Parquet files in storage become queryable without a load step. You answer a question while the data stays where it is.
Non-loaded data, Geospatial
Data lakes, Data engineering teams
-
GeoJSON boundaries meet satellite and sensor files. Spatial joins show what falls inside each region.
Geospatial, Unstructured
Mapping and logistics, Media and image data
-
A UDF captures a rule once, and every query can reuse it. You model files beside tables without copying them.
UDFs, Non-loaded data
Data lakes, Data engineering teams
- Data lakes
- Mapping and logistics
- Media and image data
- Data engineering teams
Data Engineer
Data often sits in files before it sits in tables. This badge covers reaching it there.
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Updated November 2026.
FAQ
Frequently asked questions.
Need help? These answers cover most of what people ask before they start.
No. Snowflake issues it. LUNARTECH is independent of Snowflake, and its names and marks belong to it. When you finish a course of ours, you earn a LUNARTECH certificate of completion for that course.
No. We design this course ourselves, around what the credential covers. Snowflake has no part in it, and you still earn the credential directly with Snowflake.
8–12 hours, online, self-paced.
Snowflake advises earning Badges 1, 2 and 3 first. Six months of hands-on Snowflake use can substitute for them.
We last reviewed it on 5 November 2026, from Snowflake’s own pages. Details change, so check the official page before you book.
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The course
Build the skills behind Data Lake.
Show you can query data that was never loaded into a table. Start with a free trial, or enroll in a plan and work through the course at your own pace. Snowflake issues the credential.
LUNARTECH is independent of the vendors and certifying bodies listed here. Their names, exam titles and marks belong to them, exams are run by them, and credentials are issued by them. Reviewed 5 November 2026. Catalogues change often, so confirm the details on the official page before you book.
