Splunk
Splunk is a software platform. Searching, analyzing & visualizing the data which are machine-generated uses this. These are data which we gathered from the apps, websites, sensor, devices and more. The IT infrastructure as well as the business sectors uses this Splunk.
The Splunk captures, indexes & correlates data which are real time. It will generate graphs, reports, alerts, dashboard and visualization. The Splunk will make the machine data accessible.
It will help the institution to identify the data pattern. It will help in providing the metrics as well as in diagnose the issues. The Splunk will provide the intelligence for the business operations.
In simple words, Splunk is a horizontal technology. The application management as well as the security uses the Splunk. The Compliance, the business as well as the web analytics use this.
Uses of splunk
The Splunk is the prefect tool for monitoring. It will monitor the performance of the different infrastructure. It will also monitor troubleshoot issues. Creating the dashboards, reports as well as the alerts are easy.
Splunk is one of the complete tools for managing the any type of the systems. The system will contain all the logs. The dynamical stored logs used in this system.
ELK Stack
ELK stack is also known as the Elastic Stack. ELK stack is one of the most powerful collection of three open source project. They are as follows,
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Elastic-search
It is one of the most powerful open source engines. It involves in the Search as well as for the analyzing the data. Searching the Full-Text and analyzing the logs as well as metrics uses this.
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Logstash
It is one of the best open-source tools. The ingests and transforms of logs as well as events are possible using this.
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Kibana
It is another best open-source tool. It involves in visualize and explore the data. Reviewing the logs as well as the events utilizes this.
The Elastic Stack is reliable. It is secure to access any type of the data. The data may be from any sources in any formats. We can search, analyze as well as visualize the data in the real time. Elastic stack is strong in the performance of centralizes logging. It plays a major role in identifying the web server. It can identify the application related problems.
Uses of ELK Stack
It is one of the most powerful tools for centralize logging. The system monitoring and the security system uses this tool. The business intelligence uses this ELK stack.
Comparison between Splunk as well as ELK Stack
There are lot and lots of tools used for handling the Machine data. These tools are used to process as well as to storing the Machine data. There are lot of confusion are there for us to choose the right tool. Now let’s have a short comparison between the Splunk as well as the ELK Stack. This will help us to choose the best tool for handling the Machine Data.
Nowadays Splunk as well as ELK Stack are consider as most popular tools. There are Other tools used to handle Machine generated data. Few of them are Sumo Logic, Graylog, Paper Trails as well as Loggly.
Following table shows the simple way of comparing Splunk as well as ELK Stack.
|
S:NO |
CATEGORY | FEATURES | SPLUNK |
ELK STACK |
| 1 | SETUP | Saas Setup | It is available | It is available |
| 2 | On premise Setup | It is available | It is available | |
| 3 | INPUT & PLUGINS | Input any Data Type | It can access any type of the data without any restrictions. | It can access any type of the data but need plugins. |
| 4 | Plugins as well as Integrations | We can access all the Plugins as well as Integrations | We can access all the Plugins as well as Integrations | |
| 5 | OPERATIONS | Searching | It is possible without any restrictions. | It is possible only with the Integrations |
| 6 | Analysis | It is possible without any restrictions. | It is possible only with the Integrations | |
| 7 | Visualization Dashboard | It is possible without any restrictions. | It is possible only with the Integrations | |
| 8 | SUPPORT & DOCUMENT | Customer support | It is possible without any restrictions. | It is possible but they need plugins. |
| 9 | Documentation as well as Community | It is available | It is available |
Tool & Operations Perspective
The Splunk is a complete package of the data management. First, we must import the data. Then we can search as well as investigate the data. We can perform the business analysis to form the strategies. We can view result in visual form with use of dashboard.
In simple words ELK Stack is the combination of three tools. We can search, analyze as well as visualize the data. This is possible after the initialization of the ELK Stack setup.
Elasticsearch will store the data and work as an Analytics engine. Logstash is the data collection as well as it will act as transfer agent. To Visualize the data, we will use the Kibana.
Data Access Perspective
We can access all type of data in the Splunk. In ELK stack we use the Logstash. Logstash will not support all the datatype until we initialize plugins. The disadvantage of Logstash is its long time taken for the startup. It is difficult to debug the errors. This is because it uses a non-standard configuration language.
Integration & Plugins perspective
Splunk seems to be best for setting up integration with other tools. It has about 600 plugins used for the purpose of IT operations, security as well as for other needs.
ELK stack has a greater number of plugins. It does not support many more integration as Splunk supports. It has about 160 plugins used in ELK stack.
Customer support perspective
The Splunk is one of the best customers based on the strong community. It seems to be the best when compared with the ELK Stack.
Economic perspective
Splunk seems to be very costly when compared with ELK Stack. Elk Stack is cheap and small as well as medium scale industries uses this.
Conclusion
Comparing with the ELK stack, Splunk is the most comfortable Platform. It is very easy to use. It is very easy in debugging. In the same way it is very easy for searching, analyzing as well as visualizing the data. These can be possible on the same platform.
