Splunk Enterprise Certified Admin Practice Test

What is the role of a master node in a Splunk environment?

1. Manages user access

2. Manages clustered indexers

3. Coordinates data replication

4. Distributes configurations

The correct answer is: Manages clustered indexers

In a Splunk environment, the master node plays a critical role in managing clustered indexers. It is responsible for overseeing the management of the indexer cluster, ensuring that all nodes in the cluster are functioning correctly. One of its key functions is to maintain the consistency and availability of data across the indexers, which includes coordinating the data replication process among the indexers to provide fault tolerance and ensure data integrity. This means that if one indexer goes down, the master node can facilitate the availability of data by ensuring that replicas of the data are maintained on other nodes in the cluster. In addition to replication, the master node also handles the orchestration of tasks such as load balancing and ensuring that data is evenly distributed across the indexers for efficient searching and indexing. The other options, such as managing user access, distributing configurations, and coordinate data replication, refer to different responsibilities within the Splunk architecture. User access is typically handled by the deployment server or through role-based access control settings within Splunk itself. Configuration management can also be handled by various components, such as deployment servers for pushing updates. While the master node does have some involvement with replication, its primary role centers on the management and orchestration of the clustered indexers themselves.