A public-health clinic must fulfill targeted resident erasure requests on large Delta fact tables without rewriting entire files. What should they enable?
Select an answer to reveal the explanation.
Short Explanation
Deletion vectors are sticky notes that say “erase this row” without reprinting the whole clinic ledger—privacy requests get handled without rewriting every page. You'll rewrite full files when you use copy-on-write deletes and you'll purge old snapshots when you use auto vacuum, but you won't mark one resident row as erased without rewrites. You'll log row changes when you turn on change data feed, but you'll still need deletion vectors to make the erasure stick.
Full Explanation
Public-health clinics facing targeted resident erasure requests on large Delta fact tables need deletes that do not rewrite every data file. Deletion vectors mark removed rows so privacy workflows can fulfill erasure without a full-file rewrite for each request—critical when clinic facts are wide, historical, and continuously queried. That Delta capability aligns operational privacy with large-table economics.
Copy-on-write deletes so targeted resident erasures can drop rows without full file rewrites rewrites entire data files to drop rows, so it cannot avoid full-file rewrites for erasure requests. Change data feed so targeted resident erasures can log deletes without full file rewrites records delete history for downstream consumption but does not mark or remove rows itself, so it cannot satisfy a targeted erasure request on its own. Auto vacuum so targeted resident erasures can purge old snapshots without full file rewrites removes expired files and snapshots for retention but does not mark or remove a specific resident row, so it cannot fulfill a targeted erasure request.
Exam caveat: deletion vectors improve delete efficiency; they do not replace the need for a governed erasure process, vacuum/retention policy awareness, or confirming that downstream gold copies also respect the erasure. Operational check: enable deletion vectors on the large clinic Delta facts, issue a targeted DELETE for a resident erasure test key, confirm the row is logically gone for queries without a full-table rewrite storm, and verify maintenance (VACUUM/retention) policies match the privacy runbook.
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