Comprehensive and Detailed Explanation From Exact Extract of Databricks Data Engineer Documents:
Lakehouse Federation allows Databricks to query and manage external data sources through a single governance layer, without moving or copying data. The documentation specifies that "Federated queries provide read-only access to data, reflecting the current state of the underlying source system." This ensures consistency across teams since all users access the same source of truth directly from the external system through Unity Catalog. Federation does not perform CDC replication or local caching; it queries live data on demand. Hence, option A accurately represents how Lakehouse Federation maintains consistency across federated sources.