Splunk Enterprise Certified Admin Practice Test

What impact does indexer acknowledgment have on maxQueueSize?

1. Reduces maxQueueSize by half

2. Increases maxQueueSize to 3 times the setting

3. Has no impact on maxQueueSize

4. Only affects the forwarder configuration

The correct answer is: Increases maxQueueSize to 3 times the setting

Indexer acknowledgment plays a crucial role in ensuring data integrity and reliability during the indexing process in Splunk. When indexer acknowledgment is enabled, it requires the forwarder to receive confirmation from the indexer that the data has been successfully indexed before sending more data. This mechanism effectively increases the amount of data that can be queued on the forwarder side, as it allows for additional buffering of data when acknowledgments are awaited. Consequently, the maxQueueSize—the maximum size limit for data queues on the forwarder—is scaled to accommodate this increased flow. Specifically, it is increased to three times the original setting to allow ample room for unacknowledged data while still ensuring efficient data handling and processing. In contrast, the other options do not accurately reflect the true nature of indexer acknowledgment's impact on maxQueueSize. A reduction by half is not applicable since acknowledgment requirements necessitate more, not less, queue space. The notion that there is no impact misunderstands the necessity to buffer data when awaiting indexer confirmation, and the idea that it only affects the forwarder configuration is incomplete since it also reflects in how data can be managed across the system as a whole.