The most efficient way to load data from the vendor into Snowflake is to create an external stage on Google Cloud Storage and use the external table to load the data into Snowflake (Option B). This way, you can avoid copying or moving the data across different cloud platforms, which can incur additional costs and latency.
You can also leverage the external table feature to query the data directly from Google Cloud Storage without loading it into Snowflake tables, which can save storage space and improve performance. Option A is not efficient because it requires the vendor to create a Snowflake account and a data share, which can be complicated and costly. Option C is not efficient because it involves copying the data from Google Cloud Storage to Azure Blob storage using external tools, which can be slow and expensive. Option D is not efficient because it requires creating a Snowflake account in the Google Cloud Platform (GCP), ingesting data into this account, and using data replication to move the data from GCP to Azure, which can be complex and time-consuming. References: The answer can be verified from Snowflake's official documentation on external stages and external tables available on their website. Here are some relevant links:
* Using External Stages | Snowflake Documentation
* Using External Tables | Snowflake Documentation
* Loading Data from a Stage | Snowflake Documentation

Database cloning is a feature of Snowflake that allows creating a copy of a database, schema, table, or view without consuming any additional storage space. Database cloning can be used as a tool for data lifecycle management in a development environment, where developers and testers can work on isolated copies of production data without affecting the original data or each other1.
However, there are some considerations that need to be taken when using database cloning in a development environment, such as:
Any pipes in the source are not cloned. Pipes are objects that load data from a stage into a table continuously. Pipes are not cloned because they are associated with a specific stage and table, and cloning them would create duplicate data loading and potential conflicts2.
The clone inherits all granted privileges of all child objects in the source object, including the database. Privileges are the permissions that control the access and actions that can be performed on an object. When a database is cloned, the clone inherits all the privileges that were granted on the source database and its child objects, such as schemas, tables, and views. This means that the same roles that can access and modify the source database can also access and modify the clone, unless the privileges are explicitly revoked or modified3.
The other options are not correct because:
B) Any pipes in the source referring to internal stages are not cloned. This is a subset of option A, which states that any pipes in the source are not cloned, regardless of the type of stage they refer to.
C) Any pipes in the source referring to external stages are not cloned. This is also a subset of option A, which states that any pipes in the source are not cloned, regardless of the type of stage they refer to.
E) The clone inherits all granted privileges of all child objects in the source object, excluding the database. This is incorrect, as the clone inherits all granted privileges of the source object, including the database.
Reference:
1: Database Cloning | Snowflake Documentation
2: Pipes | Snowflake Documentation
3: Access Control Privileges | Snowflake Documentation