What is the purpose of materialized views in a data warehouse?

Materialized views serve the primary purpose of creating snapshots of data for quick access within a data warehouse. When a query is run on a complex dataset, it may involve significant computation and resource usage. Materialized views pre-compute and store the results of the query, allowing users to retrieve this data quickly without having to re-run the underlying computations each time. This enhances performance, especially for frequently accessed or complex queries, thereby improving response times for end-users.

While the other options mention important aspects of data management, they do not capture the core function of materialized views. Data security, historical record maintenance, and hardware optimization are separate considerations within a data environment but do not directly relate to the primary functionality of speed and efficiency provided by materialized views.