Microsoft Fabric Blog explains the new Warehouse Snapshots functionality, emphasizing how this generally available feature improves data consistency for analytics, auditing, and machine learning workflows.

Warehouse Snapshots Now Generally Available in Microsoft Fabric

Managing data consistency during ETL processes is a well-known challenge for data teams. Inconsistent data can cause dashboard failures, unexpected KPI changes, and create headaches during compliance audits—especially when reports hit partially-loaded data. Microsoft Fabric’s new Warehouse Snapshots feature addresses these pain points by providing a stable, read-only view of your warehouse data at a specific moment in time.

Why Warehouse Snapshots Matter

  • Stable, Consistent Reporting: Ensure dashboards and reports remain accurate and consistent, even while ETL pipelines are running and data is being modified.
  • Audit and Compliance: Facilitate audit trails and compliance checks by allowing access to the exact state of data as it existed at a key point.
  • Reproducible Analytics and ML: Analysts and data scientists can confidently reproduce results or train models on static, point-in-time datasets.
  • Seamless Roll-forward: Update snapshots without breaking BI connectivity.

Key Scenarios Enabled

  • Stable Reporting During ETL: Reports and dashboards remain consistent and accurate without disruptions from in-flight data changes.
  • Historical Analysis: Schedule snapshots hourly, daily, or weekly. Analyze changes over time (e.g., inventory comparisons).
  • Financial Close: Capture KPIs at the close of a month or quarter, then continue business operations without locking down the data warehouse.
  • Data Auditing: Access exact historical data states for audit or compliance purposes.
  • Incident Recovery: Revert records to a previous good state without restoring full backups—snapshots simplify recovery from accidental changes.
  • Data Science & ML: Train machine learning models on frozen datasets, ensuring results are reproducible within a specified retention window. For longer-term needs, exported snapshots can be stored externally.

GA (General Availability) vs Preview Enhancements

Area Preview General Availability (GA)
Portal Management Snapshot creation possible only via TSQL/context menu ‘Manage Warehouse Snapshot’ tab supports creation in the portal
SSMS Object Explorer Snapshots visible in database dropdown only SSMS 22 Preview 3 enables direct visibility & query access
Supported Warehouses Snapshots only for warehouses created post-March 2025 Snapshots can be created against any existing warehouse

Example Workflow

  • Day 0 (Close Date): Finance triggers a snapshot (e.g., MonthEnd_Sept2025).
  • Day 1–30: Normal operations (new sales/expenses) can continue.
  • Audit: Finance queries SELECT * FROM MonthEnd_Sept2025.Sales to verify KPIs, unaffected by new data.
  • Retention: Snapshots are kept for 30 days; export if you require longer retention.

Learn More

Start using Warehouse Snapshots to ensure your analytics remain consistent, trustworthy, and audit-ready, all within Microsoft Fabric.

This post appeared first on “Microsoft Fabric Blog”. Read the entire article here