Disaster recovery

The Snowflake connector for Google Analytics Aggregate Data is subject to the Connector Terms.

The GAAD connector stores metadata about configured reports and its own configuration within the application instance. When the application is dropped or becomes corrupted, this internal state is lost. To prevent this, the connector exports the metadata to the destination database alongside the ingested data during specific events, such as the following:

  • Configuring a new report

  • Deleting a report

  • Fetching new batches of data from Google Analytics

  • Changing the fetch page size for a report

The export process creates several tables in the destination schema to store the connector’s internal state. These tables do not contain the ingested data but are essential for recovering the connector’s state after the application is dropped or becomes corrupted. When replicated, these tables can also be used to recover the state of the connector on a different Snowflake account. The following tables are created by the export process:

  • APP_CONFIG_SFSDKEXPORT_V1

  • APP_STATE_SFSDKEXPORT_V1

  • CONNECTOR_ERRORS_LOG_SFSDKEXPORT_V1

  • INGESTION_PROCESS_SFSDKEXPORT_V1

  • INGESTION_RUN_SFSDKEXPORT_V1

  • NOTIFICATIONS_STATE_SFSDKEXPORT_V1

  • RESOURCE_INGESTION_DEFINITION_SFSDKEXPORT_V1

Importing existing data and reports to a new instance of the connector.

If the GAAD connector has been uninstalled or corrupted, it is possible to resume ingestion of previously configured reports, provided that the destination database was not dropped. The metadata for reports configured in the connector is saved in the destination database alongside the ingested data. To continue ingesting data after installing a new connector instance, follow these steps:

  1. Configure the connector.

    Configure the connector by following the instructions in Install and configure the Snowflake Connector for Google Analytics Aggregate Data. When choosing the destination database and schema, select the existing schema that contains data ingested by the previous instance of the connector.

  2. Grant required privileges to the connector.

    Note

    This step is not required if you installed and configured the new connector using Snowsight. Execute it only if you installed the connector using SQL commands.

    Execute the following command to ensure that the newly installed GAAD connector becomes the owner of all objects in the existing schema:

    system$grant_ownership_to_application('your_application_instance', true, 'database', 'schema');
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    Where database and schema are the names of the existing database and schema, respectively.

  3. Pause the connector.

    call pause_connector();
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  4. Import the existing data and reports.

    Import the existing data and reports by executing the following command from the context of installed application:

    call import_state(force => true);
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    The force parameter is set to true to ensure that any changes that might have been made to the freshly installed connector are overwritten with the reports and internal data from the old installation.

  5. Resume the Connector

    call resume_connector();
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At this point, the new instance of the Snowflake Connector for Google Analytics Aggregate Data connector should resume ingestion of the existing reports.

Replicating the destination database and connector state to another snowflake deployment

This section describes the steps to replicate the content of the destination database. The destination database contains the ingested data and the metadata for the reports configured in the connector. If the connector or the data downloaded by the GAAD connector is critical for your business, consider setting up a secondary Snowflake account in a different region and replicating the destination database to the secondary account.

Terms and definitions

  • Destination Database - the database configured as the target for the data ingested by the GAAD connector. This is also the database where the connector’s internal state is exported to.

  • Sink Database - the schema configured as the target for the data ingested by the GAAD connector.

  • Internal State - the internal data and configuration of the GAAD connector, for example report configurations, ingestion state, and error logs.

  • GAAD instance - the Snowflake Connector for Google Analytics Aggregate Data connector instance installed on the Snowflake account.

  • GAAD - Snowflake Connector for Google Analytics Aggregate Data

  • ACCOUNT_PRIM - example name of primary account

  • ACCOUNT_SEC - example name of secondary (replica) account

  • APP_PRIM - example Snowflake Connector for Google Analytics Aggregate Data connector instance name installed on the primary account

  • APP_SEC - example Snowflake Connector for Google Analytics Aggregate Data connector instance name installed on the secondary account

  • DST_DB.DST_SCHEMA - example destination schema name for the GAAD instance (where data is ingested and the connector’s internal state is saved)

  • DST_DB - example destination database name configured for the GAAD connector

  • MYORG - example name of your organization (both accounts must be in the same organization)

Introduction

When installed on your account, the Snowflake Connector for Google Analytics Aggregate Data connector (GAAD instance) appears as a regular database that contain data, procedures etc. However, it cannot be replicated to a secondary account in the same way as a regular database. Currently, there is no native mechanism to replicate the GAAD instance with its internal state to a replica account. Specifically, the installed application cannot be added to a replication group.

Instead of replicating the GAAD instance directly, the connector exports the metadata for configured reports to the destination schema configured during the connector setup process. The state is saved there and can be replicated alongside the ingested data.

For example, if you configured the connector to ingest data into the destination schema DEST_DATABASE.PUBLIC, the connector automatically saves its internal state to this schema. You can then replicate both the ingested data and the internal state using the following command:

create replication group gaad_dest_database_group
  object_types = databases
  allowed_databases = dst_db
  allowed_accounts = ...;
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Setting up replication of ingested data and configured reports

Note

Always test your disaster recovery procedures to verify that data and state replication are functioning as expected.

Note

The following sections contain instructions applicable to all versions of Snowflake.

Note

Before proceeding, familiarize yourself with Snowflake Replication https://docs.snowflake.com/en/user-guide/account-replication-intro

  1. Installing GAAD on the primary account

    Install and configure Snowflake Connector for Google Analytics Aggregate Data on the primary account. For detailed instructions, see Install and configure the Snowflake Connector for Google Analytics Aggregate Data.

    On the primary account, create a replication group and add DST_DB as an allowed database:

    -- on primary account
create replication group gaad_rep_group_prim
  object_types = databases
  allowed_databases = dst_db
  allowed_accounts = myorg.account_sec
  replication_schedule = '10 minute';
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  2. Setting up replication on the secondary account

    To replicate DST_DB from the primary account to the secondary account, create a new replication group on the secondary account:

    -- on secondary account
create replication group gaad_rep_group_sec
  as replica of myorg.account_prim.gaad_rep_group_prim;

alter replication group gaad_rep_group_sec refresh;
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    At this point, a read-only DST_DB database should be created on the secondary account, and data from the primary account will be replicated according to the configured schedule.

  3. Installing GAAD on the secondary account

    Install and configure Snowflake Connector for Google Analytics Aggregate Data on the secondary account in the same way as on the primary account. Point the instance to ingest data into the replicated database and schema. While replication is ongoing (until the replication group on the secondary account is dropped), the database is in read-only mode. GAAD can be configured to use a read-only database as the ingestion target; however, it cannot ingest data until the database transitions to read-write mode.

    After configuring the connector on the secondary account, pause the connector by executing:

    -- on secondary account
call pause_connector();
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    At this point, the GAAD connector is installed and ready to take over if the primary account fails.

Recovery procedure

When the primary deployment becomes unavailable, configure GAAD instance on the secondary account to continue ingestion.

Note

All steps must be executed on the secondary account.

  1. Drop the replication group

    Drop the replication group on the secondary account to transition the replicated database to read-write mode:

    drop replication group gaad_rep_group_sec;
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  2. Grant ownership of existing database objects to the connector

    Grant ownership of all objects in the replicated schema to the GAAD connector by executing:

    call system$grant_ownership_to_application('app_sec', true, 'dst_db', 'dst_schema');
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  3. Import the state

    Initialize the connector with the state replicated from the primary account:

    call import_state(false);
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  4. Resume the connector

    Resume the connector by executing:

    call resume_connector();
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    At this point, the GAAD connector on the secondary account should resume data ingestion, continuing from where the GAAD on primary account left off.

    Note

    Ensure that both the primary and secondary accounts are part of the same organization. The replication schedule can be adjusted based on your requirements.

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