Which process manages connections to Tableau Server data sources?

The correct answer is Data Server, which plays a crucial role in managing connections to Tableau Server data sources. The Data Server enables you to publish, connect to, and maintain data sources within Tableau Server. It is specifically designed to handle the complexities of data connections, ensuring that users can access and share the same datasets across different workbooks and dashboards while maintaining a single source of truth.

By consolidating data connections, the Data Server improves performance and data governance within an organization as it allows for centralized management of data connections and makes it easier to manage permissions and access control. This means that rather than each workbook needing its own set of connections, the Data Server allows various reports and dashboards to utilize the same data source efficiently.

Other options do not fulfill the specific role of managing connections to data sources in Tableau Server. Data Source Properties pertain to the configuration and settings of individual data sources rather than managing server-wide connections. The Gateway is responsible for managing the communication between users’ requests and the appropriate Tableau services. Metrics Service is related to performance monitoring and does not manage data sources themselves. Thus, Data Server is essential for efficient and effective data source management in Tableau Server.