Snowflake is a popular data warehouse platform that separates storage and compute, using its powerful SQL query engine for better performance in data analytics. To manipulate and analyze data, Snowflake warehouses are allocated, virtual machines that handle data analytics needs. Any SQL operation requires a running Snowflake warehouse to work, allowing users to execute SELECT statements, perform data manipulation language operations, and perform various actions such as updating rows or loading/unloading data. Virtual warehouses in Snowflake offer better performance for SQL queries compared to traditional SQL databases due to its proprietary query engine. The use of virtual warehouses is necessary for certain database operations, and the cost of using Snowflake is paid via credits that govern compute resources such as CPU time, memory, and temporary storage.