Splunk 7 Essentials - Third Edition

Transform machine data into powerful analytical intelligence using Splunk About This Book • Analyze and visualize machine data to step into the world of Splunk! • Leverage the exceptional analysis and visualization capabilities to make informed decisions for your business • This easy-to-follow, practical book can be used by anyone - even if you have never managed data before Who This Book Is For This book is for the beginners who want to get well versed in the services offered by Splunk 7. If you want to be a data/business analyst or want to be a system administrator, this book is what you want. No prior knowledge of Splunk is required. What You Will Learn • Install and configure Splunk for personal use • Store event data in Splunk indexes, classify events into sources, and add data fields • Learn essential Splunk Search Processing Language commands and best practices • Create powerful real-time or user-input dashboards • Be proactive by implementing alerts and scheduled reports • Tips from the Fez: best practices using Splunk features and add-ons • Understand security and deployment considerations for taking Splunk to an organizational level In Detail Splunk is a search, reporting, and analytics software platform for machine data, which has an ever-growing market adoption rate. More organizations than ever are adopting Splunk to make informed decisions in areas such as IT operations, information security, and the Internet of Things. The first two chapters of the book will get you started with a simple Splunk installation and set up of a sample machine data generator, called Eventgen. After this, you will learn to create various reports, dashboards, and alerts. You will also explore Splunk's Pivot functionality to model data for business users. You will then have the opportunity to test-drive Splunk's powerful HTTP Event Collector. After covering the core Splunk functionality, you'll be provided with some real-world best practices for using Splunk, and information on how to build upon what you've learned in this book. Throughout the book, there will be additional comments and best practice recommendations from a member of the SplunkTrust Community, called "Tips from the Fez". Style and approach This fast-paced, example-rich guide will help you analyze and visualize machine data with Splunk through simple, practical instructions and recommendations.

About the Author :
J-P Contreras, a Splunk-certified administrator and sales engineer, has delivered value-oriented data analytics and performance planning solutions for 20+ years. He has built award-winning consulting teams to help companies turn data into analytical insights. He helps companies implement Splunk and enjoys everything the Splunk community offers. He received his MBA in e-commerce from DePaul University's Kellstadt Graduate School of Business, Chicago, in 2001. He trains in DePaul's Continuing Education Program and is a member of DePaul's Driehaus School of Business Advisory Board. He'd like to thank his family, especially his wife and children, and close friends for making life so enjoyable. Erickson Delgado is an enterprise architect who loves to mine and analyze data. He began using Splunk in version 4.0 and has pioneered its use into his current work. He has worked with start-up companies in the Philippines to help build their open source infrastructure. He has developed applications with Python and node.js and is interested in Go and recovering programming with C/C++. In the recent years, he engaged himself in employing DevOps in his work. He blows off steam by saltwater fishing, mountain biking, crafting robots, and touring the country. He lives in Orlando. Betsy Page Sigman is a distinguished professor at the McDonough School of Business at Georgetown University in Washington, D.C. She has taught courses in statistics, project management, databases, and electronic commerce for the last 16 years, and has been recognized with awards for teaching and service. She has also worked at George Mason University in the past. Her recent publications include a Harvard Business case study and a Harvard Business review article. Additionally, she is a frequent media commentator on technological issues and big data.