What is the principal purpose of Google Cloud Data Catalog?

The principal purpose of Google Cloud Data Catalog is managing metadata and enabling data discovery. This fully managed service allows organizations to efficiently organize, discover, and understand their data across Google Cloud environments. By creating a central repository for metadata, users can easily search for and locate datasets, gaining increased visibility into their data assets.

Data Catalog provides features such as tagging, search capabilities, and a user interface that simplifies the process of finding and understanding data. This enhances collaboration and data governance within organizations, as teams can quickly identify relevant datasets for analysis and maintain clarity and consistency regarding their data assets.

While the other options may relate to broader cloud functionalities, they do not align with the specific role of Data Catalog. For instance, controlling access to cloud resources pertains more to security and permissions management. Backing up cloud-hosted applications focuses on data recovery and protection. Optimizing server performance is related to infrastructure and operations rather than metadata management or data discovery. Therefore, the focus of Data Catalog on metadata management is what makes it a vital tool for data engineers and organizations leveraging data in their operations.