What service is responsible for managing the data sources used in Tableau Server?

The Data Server is the service in Tableau Server that manages the data sources. Its primary responsibility involves handling the connections to the data sources, maintaining the metadata, and allowing users to share and reuse data connections across workbooks. The Data Server enables efficient data management by optimizing these connections for better performance and accessibility.

By managing data sources centrally, it supports the consolidation of data, ensuring that all users in an organization access the same, up-to-date information without having to duplicate data connections. This is essential for maintaining consistency in reporting and analysis across various departments and projects within an organization.

In contrast, the other services focus on different aspects of Tableau Server operations: the Cache Server aids in enhancing performance by caching query results, the Metrics Service tracks key performance indicators, and the Backgrounder handles long-running tasks like extract refreshes and subscription delivery. Each of these services plays an important role, but only the Data Server specifically addresses the management and governance of the data sources themselves.