What are 3 main components in a Splunk architecture?

Splunk’s architecture is built to handle large volumes of machine-generated data effectively. It comprises three main components, each serving a distinct role in the data pipeline:

1. Forwarders

Forwarders are responsible for data collection and transmission to the Splunk Indexers. They are typically deployed on source machines where data is generated.

Key Features

• Lightweight: Minimal resource usage to avoid impacting source machine performance.
• Real-time data streaming: Sends log data continuously to Indexers.
• Types:
  • Universal Forwarder: Used for collecting and forwarding data without data processing.
  • Heavy Forwarder: Can filter and preprocess data before forwarding.

Example Use

Forwarders collect logs from servers, applications, or devices like firewalls and send them to Indexers for further analysis.

2. Indexers

Indexers are the core processing and storage engine of Splunk. They store incoming data and make it searchable.

Key Features

• Data Parsing: Breaks down raw data into events and indexes them.
• Storage: Compresses and stores the indexed data for efficient retrieval.
• Query Execution: Processes SPL (Search Processing Language) queries during searches.

Example Use

Indexers store and organize log data from web servers to enable quick searches for error patterns or performance issues.

3. Search Heads

Search Heads provide the user interface for searching, analyzing, and visualizing data stored in Indexers.

Key Features

• Search Execution: Sends search queries to Indexers and aggregates the results.
• Dashboards and Reports: Enables users to create custom visualizations.
• User Management: Handles access controls for multi-user environments.

Example Use

A Search Head allows IT teams to create dashboards that monitor application performance and display error trends in real-time.

Supporting Components

In addition to these main components, a Splunk architecture might include:

• Cluster Masters: Manage Indexer clusters for high availability.
• Deployment Servers: Manage configuration for Forwarders.
• License Masters: Ensure proper usage of Splunk licenses.

Conclusion

The combination of Forwarders, Indexers, and Search Heads forms the backbone of Splunk’s architecture, allowing it to collect, process, and visualize large-scale machine data effectively. For a deeper understanding of system design principles like those used in Splunk, check out Grokking the System Design Interview.