What is the function of Google Cloud Data Catalog?

Google Cloud Data Catalog serves the critical function of managing metadata and providing data discovery and governance capabilities. It acts as a centralized repository where organizations can store their metadata, making it easier to manage, search for, and understand data assets across the organization. This includes features like tagging, classification, and creating a business glossary that enhances data discoverability and contextual understanding.

Moreover, Data Catalog helps organizations enforce data governance policies by allowing them to track data lineage and data ownership, ensuring that stakeholders can find the data they need while adhering to compliance and security standards. By streamlining the process of locating and understanding data, Data Catalog improves data utilization and encourages a culture of data-driven decision-making.

The other options focus on functionalities that are outside the scope of Data Catalog's purpose. While managing user access and authentication can be an important part of data security, it is not the principal role of Google Cloud Data Catalog. Storing large analytical datasets pertains more to services like Google BigQuery or Google Cloud Storage, which specialize in data storage and analytics. Conducting real-time data analytics is typically handled by services specifically designed for analytics, such as BigQuery itself or Cloud Dataflow, rather than by a metadata management tool.