Splunk Enterprise Certified Admin Practice Test

What type of forwarder is capable of parsing data before sending it to an indexer?

1. Light forwarder

2. Universal forwarder

3. Heavy forwarder

4. Remote forwarder

The correct answer is: Heavy forwarder

The heavy forwarder is specifically designed to parse and preprocess data before sending it to an indexer. This type of forwarder is equipped with the full capabilities of Splunk's indexing and parsing functions, allowing it to extract significant information, apply transformations, and even perform complex data manipulation on the incoming data streams. By doing this, the heavy forwarder minimizes the processing workload on the indexers, effectively allowing them to focus on indexing more efficiently. In contrast, the universal forwarder is a lightweight version focused solely on data collection and forwarding without parsing. It does not have the necessary components to perform operations like filtering or data format changes. A light forwarder, which is often a synonym for the universal forwarder, shares the same limitations as it is designed for minimal resource usage. The term "remote forwarder" is less commonly used in the context of Splunk and does not specifically refer to a type of forwarder recognized within the standard Splunk architecture. Thus, the heavy forwarder's unique capacity to parse and preprocess data sets it apart as the correct choice in this context.