Splunk Enterprise Certified Admin Practice Test

What impact can clock skew between hosts have on Splunk?

1. It does not affect search results

2. It can improve search speed

3. It can affect search results

4. It causes data duplication

The correct answer is: It can affect search results

Clock skew between hosts can significantly impact search results in Splunk because Splunk relies heavily on timestamps for event ordering and indexing. When there are discrepancies in the system clocks of different machines, the timestamps associated with events can become misaligned. This misalignment can lead to situations where events are not presented in the correct order during searches, resulting in confusion and potentially misleading insights. For example, if an event generated on one host is timestamped as occurring before another event from a different host, but due to clock skew, it actually occurred later, then searches based on time ranges may yield inconsistent or incomplete results. This can affect not only the analysis of data but also the triggering of alerts and the generation of reports that depend on accurate timing. Accurate timestamps are crucial in environments where event correlation and tracking of an incident's lifecycle are necessary. If the timestamps are incorrect, it could hinder effective troubleshooting or monitoring efforts, undermining the reliability of Splunk's analysis capabilities. Therefore, maintaining synchronized clocks across all hosts is essential for ensuring the integrity and accuracy of the data and search results in Splunk.