Alex Merced • 6/8/2026

Apache Iceberg v3 Deletion Vectors on Snowflake

This article details Apache Iceberg v3 deletion vectors, which replace v2's positional and equality delete files with compressed binary bitmaps stored in Puffin files. It covers how deletion vectors improve merge-on-read performance, reduce storage overhead, and accelerate delete/update operations (e.g., 55% faster deletes, 73% less storage). The article also discusses Snowflake's implementation, performance benchmarks, compaction strategy changes, multi-engine considerations, and migration paths from v2 to v3. It is a technical guide for data engineers and developers working with Iceberg tables.

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#Snowflake #Deletion Vectors #Apache Iceberg V3