With the advent of IoT devices, machine data has become a commonly talked about term in the tech world. As the number of machines found in the IT infrastructure increases and the data produced goes high, the need to use this data for insights heighten too.
This data is raw and thus needs to be stored and processed to gain valuable business-centric information. To make that happen, you need platforms to make it happen and that includes a software platform like Splunk.
Splunk is used to access, visualize, and analyze machine-generated data from various sources such as networks, IoT devices, hardware devices, servers, etc. It has a lot of features and capabilities. Hence, many companies seek Splunk experts to help.
Let us look at some of the top Splunk interview questions & answers. This blog also contains Splunk Administrator interview questions and for experienced professionals too. This blog will act as a guide once you complete your Splunk certification course.
If you are a fresher who has recently completed their Splunk training, then here are some of the best interview questions for you.
Answer. Machine data is not an easy feat to understand since it is in an unstructured format. Thus, analyzing and visualizing this data is not possible. Splunk is the tool that helps in such situations. It is the perfect tool to tackle these problems because-
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Answer. Splunk Architecture has three main components -
Answer. It is very beneficial when data enters into a Splunk instance via forwarders. These benefits include an encrypted SSL connection among the indexer and the forwarder, a TCP connection, and bandwidth throttling. Data forwarded to the indexers are by default load balanced. This means that even if one indexer fails at a point, data can be routed to a different indexer instance swiftly.
Answer. Splunk Query enables running of a specific operation on machine-generated data. It uses SPL or Search Processing Language to communicate with a source or database of data. This language is full of functions, commands, arguments, etc. that can be utilized for extracting essential info from machine-generated data. Hence, enabling the users to run queries to be able to analyze their data.
Answer. Splunk processes data in three primary steps or stages. These are the data input stage, data storage stage, and data searching stage.
Answer. A metadata key consists of the source, source type, and hostname of the data.
Answer. The License Master in Splunk is shouldered with the task of making sure that the limited data is indexed. The amount of data coming on the platform in 24 hours makes the base for each Splunk license. Hence, it is important that the environment is kept within the limits of its purchased volume.
In case the License Master is unreachable, it will become impossible to search the data.
Read Also- How to Become Splunk Expert?
If you are looking for Splunk interview questions for experienced professionals, then your search ends here. Let us take you through a few of them -
Answer. Summary indexes are used for storing reports, summaries, and analyses computed by Splunk. It acts as a rapid yet inexpensive method of running a query for a long duration of time. If the user does not use a specified one, the default index is used.
Answer. Splunk free lacks a lot of features including -
Answer. Splunk DB Connect is a widely used general-purpose SQL database plugin/ extension for Splunk. It permits fluent integration between Splunk reports/ queries and database information. It is used for combining structured data from DBs with unstructured machine data. Splunk Enterprise is then used for uncovering insights from the combined data.
Answer. Splunk UI picks colors by default. However, it is still possible to assign the colors as per our choice and requirements to charts while creating reports. To make it happen, go to the dashboard to edit the panels in it. After modifying the panel settings, choose the color as per requirements.
You can also assign colors with certain codes and commands.
Answer. There are three types of dashboards in Splunk.
Whether you decide to learn Splunk online via a good institute or choose to watch a Splunk tutorial for better understanding of the field, you will still need to practice top Splunk admin interview questions.
Here are the top ones most frequently asked in an interview.
Answer. As data ages, it passes through different buckets. Here is how that happens -
Answer. Workflow Actions are used when certain tasks need to be automated once the rules have been assigned and the reports are scheduled and created. These actions come in handy when it comes to retrieving a specific set of data that needs to be sent to other fields.
Answer. As data enters in Splunk, the time zone of the entry made is picked. Splunk takes the time zone defined in the browser to add the time zones. Similarly, the browser picks up the time zone that is set on your computer system. Thus, if you want to find it, you will have to search for a particular event.
Answer. Splunk has three types of search modes named fast, Verbose, and Smart.
There is no end to the amount of knowledge you can intake or the extent to which you can polish your Splunk skills. It all lies in where you complete your Splunk training and how you practice them. The key point to making a career in the tech world revolves around staying ahead of your competition and keeping yourself updated with everything new and trending.
Since Splunk is a widely used software platform to manage and analyze data, it comes as no surprise that the demand for Splunk administrators is so high. With the right Splunk course and with the Splunk Cloud Certified Admin certification, a plethora of opportunities will open its doors for you.
Answer. The Splunk Cloud Administrator certification is best suited for platform administrators, cloud migrators, and career builders.
Answer. You must be certified with the Splunk Core Certified Power User certification.
Answer. This exam is priced at $130 USD per exam attempt.
Answer. The average salary of a Splunk Administrator in India is Rs. 6.2 LPA. The salary ranges between Rs. 3.9 LPA - Rs. 11 LPA. This number can vary based on your location, experience, and skills.
Answer. The certification code is SPLK-1003.
Course Schedule
| Course Name | Batch Type | Details |
| Splunk Training | Every Weekday | View Details |
| Splunk Training | Every Weekend | View Details |
