# Zero Copy, data shares and clean rooms

*Data 360 Consultant Study Guide · Data Source Connection and Ingestion · Last updated October 16, 2026 · https://www.certifyforce.com/study-guide/data-360-consultant/data-source-connection-and-ingestion/zero-copy-data-shares-and-clean-rooms*

Zero Copy in both directions: query and file federation bring external data in (live or accelerated), data shares send Data 360 objects out to Snowflake, Databricks, BigQuery, Redshift or another Data 360 org, and clean rooms let two parties query each other's data without exposing raw records.

- Certification: Salesforce Data 360 Consultant
- Exam section: Data Source Connection and Ingestion
- Study guide: https://www.certifyforce.com/study-guide/data-360-consultant

**Official exam objective:**

> Describe Data 360's data collaboration capabilities, including Zero-Copy.

## What the exam expects

- Name the Zero Copy direction a scenario needs: federation to bring external data in, a data share to expose Data 360 data to an external lake or warehouse.
- Choose live query federation, accelerated query federation or file federation from query frequency, change rate, volume and credit cost.
- Predict which Data 360 features work on federated objects, including when caching is required.
- Configure data shares and targets, including governance, consent, cross-region credits and sharing between Data 360 orgs.
- Recommend a clean room and explain what each party contributes and receives.

Key terms:
- **Query federation:** Data 360 queries an external system through its compute layer, live or from a cache.
- **Acceleration:** caching federated data in a Data 360 DLO on a refresh schedule.
- **File federation:** Data 360 reads files in the external storage layer with its own compute.
- **Data share / data share target:** a set of Data 360 objects, and the connection to the external system that receives it.
- **Clean room:** a collaboration where two parties run permitted queries on each other's data while raw records stay private.

## Key facts

| Fact | Detail | Source |
|---|---|---|
| Cache interval | 15 minutes to 7 days | [Compare Data Federation Methods](https://help.salesforce.com/s/articleView?id=data.c260_a_data_federation_compare_methods.htm&language=en_US&type=5) |
| Caching default | Off; edit the data stream to enable | [Caching or Acceleration](https://help.salesforce.com/s/articleView?id=data.c360_a_accelerated_data_lake_objects.htm&language=en_US&type=5) |
| Incremental cache refresh | Upserts only, no deletes | [Caching or Acceleration](https://help.salesforce.com/s/articleView?id=data.c360_a_accelerated_data_lake_objects.htm&language=en_US&type=5) |
| Cache credits | Batch Data Pipeline usage type, plus storage | [Federation billing](https://help.salesforce.com/s/articleView?id=data.c360_a_billing_considerations_for_data_federation.htm&language=en_US&type=5) |
| Same-region AWS file federation | No credits for rows accessed | [Compare Data Federation Methods](https://help.salesforce.com/s/articleView?id=data.c260_a_data_federation_compare_methods.htm&language=en_US&type=5) |
| Shareable objects | DLOs, DMOs, calculated insight objects | [Data Shares](https://help.salesforce.com/s/articleView?id=data.c360_a_data_shares.htm&language=en_US&type=5) |
| Governance on shares | Not honored; apply at the target | [Data Shares](https://help.salesforce.com/s/articleView?id=data.c360_a_data_shares.htm&language=en_US&type=5) |
| Org-to-org shared objects | Arrive as DLOs in the receiving org | [Share Data Between Data 360 Orgs](https://help.salesforce.com/s/articleView?id=data.c360_a_share_data_between_dc_orgs.htm&language=en_US&type=5) |
| Segment overlap threshold | Minimum 100 matched individuals | [Segment Overlap Template](https://help.salesforce.com/s/articleView?id=data.c360_a_crc_segment_overlap_use_case.htm&language=en_US&type=5) |

## Check yourself

- Why must a query-federated object be accelerated before a data action can fire on it?
- When does a query from an external data share consume Data 360 credits?
- What must the receiving org do to get objects shared by another Data 360 org?
- Why can't a DMO mapped to an external DLO join a Databricks data share?

## Sources

- [Compare Data Federation Methods](https://help.salesforce.com/s/articleView?id=data.c260_a_data_federation_compare_methods.htm&language=en_US&type=5)
- [Zero Copy Data Federation Supportability](https://help.salesforce.com/s/articleView?id=data.c360_a_byol_data_federation_supportability.htm&language=en_US&type=5)
- [Caching or Acceleration in Data Federation](https://help.salesforce.com/s/articleView?id=data.c360_a_accelerated_data_lake_objects.htm&language=en_US&type=5)
- [Billing Considerations for Data Federation](https://help.salesforce.com/s/articleView?id=data.c360_a_billing_considerations_for_data_federation.htm&language=en_US&type=5)
- [Zero Copy Data Federation: Overview and Benefits](https://trailhead.salesforce.com/content/learn/modules/data-cloud-with-zero-copy/get-started-with-zero-copy-data-federation)
- [Zero Copy Data Sharing: Unlocking Data Cloud Potential](https://trailhead.salesforce.com/content/learn/modules/data-cloud-with-zero-copy/get-started-with-zero-copy-data-sharing)
- [Data Shares](https://help.salesforce.com/s/articleView?id=data.c360_a_data_shares.htm&language=en_US&type=5)
- [Create a Data Share](https://help.salesforce.com/s/articleView?id=data.c360_a_create_data_shares.htm&language=en_US&type=5)
- [Share Data Between Data 360 Orgs](https://help.salesforce.com/s/articleView?id=data.c360_a_share_data_between_dc_orgs.htm&language=en_US&type=5)
- [Troubleshoot Data Share Errors](https://help.salesforce.com/s/articleView?id=data.c360_a_data_shares_troubleshooting.htm&language=en_US&type=5)
- [Data 360 Clean Room Collaboration Process Overview](https://help.salesforce.com/s/articleView?id=data.c360_a_crc_how_clean_room_works.htm&language=en_US&type=5)
- [Segment Overlap Use Case Template](https://help.salesforce.com/s/articleView?id=data.c360_a_crc_segment_overlap_use_case.htm&language=en_US&type=5)
- [Prepare Your Data for a Clean Room](https://help.salesforce.com/s/articleView?id=data.c360_a_crc_prepare_data.htm&language=en_US&type=5)

## About the full unit

The "Core concepts", "Exam traps" and "Worked scenario" sections of this unit, its 18 linked practice questions, and unlimited timed mock exams are included with the Data 360 Consultant pack (USD $19): https://www.certifyforce.com/practice-exams