Teradata Cheat Sheet 2026

The 30 highest-yield Teradata facts, distilled from real exam questions. Print it, save it as a PDF, or study it here — free, no sign-up.

1. What is a star schema in the context of Teradata data warehousing? → A design with a central fact table surrounded by denormalized dimension tables
2. Which Teradata feature enables rolling window partitioning by automatically deleting the oldest partition and adding a new one? → Rolling partition maintenance via ALTER TABLE MODIFY
3. Which Teradata component is responsible for storing and retrieving data on disk? → Access Module Processor (AMP)
4. What does the Teradata 'NORMALIZE' clause do when applied to a table of time periods? → Merges overlapping or adjacent time periods into a single contiguous row
5. In Teradata, what is a 'volatile table'? → A temporary table that exists only for the duration of a user session
6. Which Teradata feature allows multiple range conditions on different columns to be combined for partition elimination? → Multi-Level Partitioning (MLPPI)
7. In Teradata, what is the purpose of the Viewpoint portal? → A web-based monitoring and management interface for Teradata systems
8. Which Teradata load utility is best suited for initial bulk loading of an empty table? → FastLoad
9. In Teradata, what is a spool space and what happens when it runs out? → Temporary disk space for intermediate query results; query fails with a spool space error
10. How many nodes can Teradata support in a single system at the most? → 100,000 nodes
11. What is the Teradata TDLOAD utility primarily used for? → A command-line interface for TPT that simplifies load job creation without scripting
12. Which Teradata component is employed for workload management and monitoring? → Teradata Workload Manager
13. What is a Primary Index in Teradata and why is it important? → It determines data distribution across AMPs and is critical for query performance
14. Which Teradata view provides real-time information about currently running queries and their AMPs usage? → DBC.SessionInfoV
15. In Teradata, what is row partitioning by date used for in a data warehouse? → Enables partition elimination so queries with date filters scan only relevant partitions
16. Because of _____, a uniqueness value is necessary to provide a unique Row ID. → Both Answers
17. Which SQL command in Teradata is used to remove all rows from a table without logging individual row deletions? → TRUNCATE TABLE
18. What is the function of the .SET TITLEDASHES command in BTEQ? → Controls whether dashes are printed under column headings in BTEQ output
19. Which Teradata feature allows a single query to be automatically routed to the best-performing node in a multi-system environment? → Unity Director
20. What does the Teradata Data Dictionary contain? → Metadata about all database objects such as tables, views, users, and indexes
21. Which Teradata SQL clause is used to eliminate duplicate rows from a result set? → DISTINCT
22. Which Teradata SQL statement is used to change an existing table's structure, such as adding a column? → ALTER TABLE
23. Which Teradata SQL extension allows you to compute cumulative sums or moving averages without a self-join? → OLAP/window functions with OVER() clause
24. Which string function in Teradata returns the position of a substring within a string? → INDEX
25. What does the CAST function do in Teradata SQL? → Converts a value from one data type to another
26. What is the role of the Teradata Archive/Recovery (ARC) utility? → Backs up and restores Teradata databases, tables, and journals
27. What is a Vproc in Teradata architecture? → A virtual processor that maps to either a PE or AMP
28. What is the primary component in Teradata architecture that manages parsing and optimizing SQL queries? → Parsing Engine (PE)
29. Which EXPLAIN plan indicator suggests that no statistics exist for a column used in a join or filter? → "No confidence" or relying on defaults
30. What is the maximum number of levels supported in a Teradata multi-level partitioned primary index (MLPPI)? → 32