Splunk Enterprise Certified Admin Practice Test

What type of forwarder is a full Splunk Enterprise installation?

1. Universal

2. Heavy

3. Light

4. SNMP

The correct answer is: Heavy

A full Splunk Enterprise installation is classified as a heavy forwarder. This type of forwarder is commonly used for complex data handling requirements because it has the capability to parse and index data before forwarding it to another Splunk instance, such as an indexer. Heavy forwarders can perform data transformations, advanced routing, and filtering, which allows for greater control over what data is sent and how it is processed. In contrast, a universal forwarder is a lightweight agent that primarily focuses on collecting and forwarding raw data without performing any parsing or indexing. It is commonly used for minimal resource consumption on the forwarder side. Light forwarders are designed for specific scenarios where the forwarder is optimized to only send specific types of data to other Splunk instances and usually rely on a central configuration, while SNMP (Simple Network Management Protocol) is not a type of forwarder in the Splunk context; rather, it is a protocol used for network management. The functionality and capabilities of a heavy forwarder make it suitable for scenarios where advanced data processing is required before data reaches its destination, explaining why it is the correct choice in this context.