Splunk SPLK-2002 Exam Questions

All of the options are possible causes of a crash in Splunk.According to the Splunk documentation1, incorrect ulimit settings can lead to file descriptor exhaustion, which can cause Splunk to crash or hang.Insufficient disk IOPS can also cause Splunk to crash or become unresponsive, as Splunk relies heavily on disk performance2.Insufficient memory can cause Splunk to run out of memory and crash, especially when running complex searches or handling large volumes of data3.Running out of disk space can cause Splunk to stop indexing data and crash, as Splunk needs enough disk space to store its data and logs4.

1: Configure ulimit settings for Splunk Enterprise2: Troubleshoot Splunk performance issues3: Troubleshoot memory usage4: Troubleshoot disk space issues

When designing the number and size of indexes, the following considerations should be applied:

Expected daily ingest volumes: This is the amount of data that will be ingested and indexed by the Splunk platform per day. This affects the storage capacity, the indexing performance, and the license usage of the Splunk deployment.The number and size of indexes should be planned according to the expected daily ingest volumes, as well as the peak ingest volumes, to ensure that the Splunk deployment can handle the data load and meet the business requirements12.

Data retention time policies: This is the duration for which the data will be stored and searchable by the Splunk platform. This affects the storage capacity, the data availability, and the data compliance of the Splunk deployment.The number and size of indexes should be planned according to the data retention time policies, as well as the data lifecycle, to ensure that the Splunk deployment can retain the data for the desired period and meet the legal or regulatory obligations13.

Access controls: This is the mechanism for granting or restricting access to the data by the Splunk users or roles. This affects the data security, the data privacy, and the data governance of the Splunk deployment.The number and size of indexes should be planned according to the access controls, as well as the data sensitivity, to ensure that the Splunk deployment can protect the data from unauthorized or inappropriate access and meet the ethical or organizational standards14.

Option D is the correct answer because it reflects the most relevant and important considerations for designing the number and size of indexes.Option A is incorrect because the number of concurrent users is not a direct factor for designing the number and size of indexes, but rather a factor for designing the search head capacity and the search head clustering configuration5. Option B is incorrect because the number of installed apps is not a direct factor for designing the number and size of indexes, but rather a factor for designing the app compatibility and the app performance. Option C is incorrect because it omits the expected daily ingest volumes, which is a crucial factor for designing the number and size of indexes.

1:Splunk Validated Architectures2: [Indexer capacity planning]3: [Set a retirement and archiving policy for your indexes]4: [About securing Splunk Enterprise]5: [Search head capacity planning] : [App installation and management overview]

According to the Splunk documentation1, one of the benefits of search head clustering is the automatic replication of user knowledge objects, such as dashboards, reports, alerts, and tags. This ensures that all cluster members have the same set of knowledge objects and can serve the same search results to the users. The other options are false because:

Allowing indexers to maintain multiple searchable copies of all data is a benefit of indexer clustering, not search head clustering2.

Input settings are not synchronized between search heads, as search head clusters do not collect data from inputs.Data collection is done by forwarders or independent search heads3.

Fewer network ports are not required to be opened between search heads, as search head clusters use several ports for communication and replication among the members4.

A single-site indexer cluster is a group of Splunk Enterprise instances that index and replicate data across the cluster1.A bucket is a directory that contains indexed data, along with metadata and other information2.A replication factor is the number of copies of each bucket that the cluster maintains1.A search factor is the number of searchable copies of each bucket that the cluster maintains1.A searchable copy is a copy that contains both the raw data and the index files3.A search head is a Splunk Enterprise instance that coordinates the search activities across the peer nodes1.

Option D is the correct answer because it reflects the definitions of replication factor and search factor. The cluster will ensure that there are at least three copies of each bucket, one on each peer node, to satisfy the replication factor of 3. The cluster will also ensure that there are at least two searchable copies of each bucket, one primary and one searchable, to satisfy the search factor of 2.The primary copy is the one that the search head uses to run searches, and the searchable copy is the one that can be promoted to primary if the original primary copy becomes unavailable3.

Option A is incorrect because it confuses the replication factor and the search factor. The cluster will ensure there are at least three copies of each bucket, not two, to meet the replication factor of 3. The cluster will ensure there are at least two copies of searchable metadata, not three, to meet the search factor of 2.

Option B is incorrect because it uses the wrong terms. The cluster will ensure there are at least, not at most, three copies of each bucket, to meet the replication factor of 3. The cluster will ensure there are at least, not at most, two copies of searchable metadata, to meet the search factor of 2.

Option C is incorrect because it has nothing to do with the replication factor or the search factor. The cluster does not limit the number of search heads that can access the bucket at the same time.The search head can search across multiple clusters, and the cluster can serve multiple search heads1.

1:The basics of indexer cluster architecture - Splunk Documentation2:About buckets - Splunk Documentation3:Search factor - Splunk Documentation

The following statements describe licensing in a clustered Splunk deployment: Free licenses do not support clustering, and replicated data does not count against licensing. Free licenses are limited to 500 MB of daily indexing volume and do not allow distributed searching or clustering. To enable clustering, a license with a higher volume limit and distributed features is required. Replicated data is data that is copied from one peer node to another for the purpose of high availability and load balancing. Replicated data does not count against licensing, because it is not new data that is ingested by Splunk. Only the original data that is indexed by the peer nodes counts against licensing. Each cluster member does not require its own clustering license, because clustering licenses are shared among the cluster members.Cluster members must share the same license pool and license master, because the license master is responsible for distributing licenses to the cluster members and enforcing the license limits