Sep 17, 2026: Snowpark Container Services backup instance types (General availability)

Backup instance types for Snowpark Container Services compute pools are now generally available and are no longer in Preview.

Backup instance types let you specify an ordered list of fallback instance families on a compute pool. When the primary instance type is capacity-constrained, Snowflake automatically retries provisioning with the backup families in the order you specify instead of returning an insufficient capacity error (ICE).

You configure the fallback list with the BACKUP_INSTANCE_FAMILIES parameter. For example, the following command enables backup instance types for an existing compute pool:

ALTER COMPUTE POOL my_compute_pool
  SET BACKUP_INSTANCE_FAMILIES = ('GEN_X64_G2_8');

Key capabilities include:

  • Automatic fallback: Snowflake works through your ordered backup list when the primary instance type is capacity-constrained, and prefers the primary again for new nodes once its capacity recovers.
  • Customer-controlled configuration: Define the ordered fallback list using the BACKUP_INSTANCE_FAMILIES parameter on CREATE COMPUTE POOL and ALTER COMPUTE POOL.
  • Node observability: Use the SHOW NODES IN COMPUTE POOL command to see the actual instance family in use on each provisioned node.
  • Transparent billing: Nodes are billed at the rate of their actual instance type. Primary nodes are billed at the primary family’s rate; backup nodes are billed at the backup family’s rate.

For more information, see Backup instance types.