You can expand Splunk Enterprise to meet almost any capacity requirement. To take advantage of this scaling capability requires planning. This manual discusses high-level hardware guidance for Splunk Enterprise deployments and describes how Splunk Enterprise uses hardware resources in different situations. The manual also provides information about reference hardware and a performance questionnaire to determine when and how you should scale your deployment based on your needs.

Before you decide on hardware for Splunk Enterprise, see the following information:

• Review Components of a Splunk Enterprise Deployment in this manual for a description of the elements in a Splunk Enterprise installation.

• Read about the dimensions of a Splunk Enterprise deployment, how those dimensions impact performance, and how to maximize performance.

• Learn about the basic building block of a Splunk Enterprise deployment in Reference hardware in this manual.