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What is Redshift Spectrum, and how does it differ from standard Redshift queries?

SQLmedium0.6 min readPremium
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Daniel Wellington
Key Concepts Tested
partitionsql
Expert AnswerPremium
113 wordsInterview-ready
Redshift Spectrum queries data in S3 without loading into Redshift. It uses the same SQL but pushes scans to external tables. Differences from standard Redshift: (1) Data lives in S3—no Redshift storage. (2) Compute separation—Spectrum nodes scan S3. (3) Schema-on-read—external table definition. (4) Partitioning—by folder structure for pushdown. (5) Cost—pay for S3 scans + Spectrum compute. Use Spectrum for: data lakes, ad-hoc exploration, archival....
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