What is the function of Git LFS in GitLab?

Git Large File Storage (LFS) serves a critical purpose in managing large files within Git repositories. Its main function is to replace large files such as audio, video, datasets, or graphics with text pointers inside Git, while storing the actual file contents on a remote server or external storage. This mechanism allows for more efficient handling of large files, as it reduces the size of the repository and optimizes clone and checkout operations.

When utilizing Git LFS, users only download the necessary portions of large files when they are checked out, rather than obtaining the entire file each time. This "lazy" downloading of files not only saves bandwidth but also improves performance, especially for repositories that contain numerous or very large files. Therefore, the correct answer highlights Git LFS’s key capability of facilitating efficient file handling and improving the overall workflow when working with large files in GitLab.