What is the function of a connection in this context?

In the context of Informatica Cloud Data Integration, the primary function of a connection is to define how the integration tool communicates with a data source. This includes specifying the parameters required to establish a link to the data, such as the server address, authentication details, database type, and any necessary protocols.

By defining a connection, users can easily configure and facilitate data integration tasks, enabling the tool to access, read, and write data from the specified source. This is crucial for operations such as extracting data from a data lake, loading information into a database, or transferring data between different applications.

The other choices highlight concepts that, while relevant to overall data integration management, do not accurately describe the specific role of a connection in this scenario. For instance, determining licensing pertains to the user's access privileges rather than the function of a connection itself. Storing user credentials relates to security management rather than defining data connections. Lastly, creating backups of configurations addresses data preservation and recovery aspects but does not tie into the establishment or management of connections to data sources.