Splunk POD requirements
Ensure your environment meets these infrastructure requirements before deploying the Splunk POD cluster.
Before you deploy your Splunk POD cluster, ensure that your environment meets the following operating system, hardware, network, and storage requirements.
Operating system and system configuration
Operating system and system configuration prerequisites for Splunk POD nodes.
Ensure all nodes in the Splunk POD environment meet these requirements:
- Install Red Hat Enterprise Linux (RHEL) 9.6.
- Disable Transparent Huge Pages (THP) to optimize memory management for Splunk Enterprise.
- Configure Chrony to synchronize clocks across all POD servers.
For detailed OS installation and configuration instructions, see the Splunk POD CVD.
Node hardware requirements
Specific UCS hardware and disk allocation for Splunk POD node types.
Each node type requires specific UCS hardware and disk allocation to manage the Kubernetes control plane and Splunk components.
| Node type | UCS server model | Description and requirements |
|---|---|---|
| NVMe Workers | UCS C225 server | General-purpose worker node containing fast NVMe storage devices. |
| HDD Workers | UCS C240 servers | Workers intended to host SmartStore which contain HDDs for cost-efficient SmartStore usage. Only included with HDD SKUs. |
| Reserved Controller | UCS C225 | Node with reduced RAM to act as a reserved Kubernetes control node. The reduced RAM capacity prevents Splunk workloads from scheduling on it. |
For detailed hardware requirements, see the Splunk POD CVD.
Network and access requirements
Connectivity, SSH, and DNS prerequisites for Splunk POD.
The installation process requires unrestricted communication between nodes and specific access privileges.
Network connectivity: All nodes must have open network access to each other (all ports, all protocols) for communication between nodes in the same Splunk POD server rack. Nodes do not require internet access.
SSH access: Use an SSH key with full sudo privileges to allow the installer to access and configure all control and worker nodes. Specify this SSH key in the cluster configuration file. For detailed instructions about configuring SSH access, see the Splunk POD CVD.
DNS configuration: Configure forward and reverse DNS for all POD servers if you plan to use name-based routing.
Storage configuration
Storage specifications and RAID requirements for Splunk POD nodes.
Configure storage according to the following specifications.
C225 Indexer storage
Configure these volumes to satisfy hot/warm cache retention and ensure proper indexer pod placement.
| Mount Point | Volume Requirements | Purpose |
|---|---|---|
| / | 2x 960GB NVMe RAID1 | Operating system |
| /mnt/splunk | 15.3TB NVMe (RAID5, drive count based on POD sizing tier) | Indexer PVC and local bucket cache |
Use the indexer drive count that meets your POD sizing tier's indexing volume requirements.
| Sizing Tier | Indexer Drive Quantity |
|---|---|
| Small | 4 |
| Medium | 5 |
| Large | 6 |
| Extra Large | 6 |
Other C225 and C240 nodes
Other nodes do not require any configuration of drives and should be left unformatted and un-configured. These un-configured drives will be consumed by Ceph for block storage.
RAID requirement
Indexer nodes require pre-configured software RAID5 arrays as specified in the Storage Configuration tables. The Kubernetes installer does not configure RAID. Configure all RAID arrays after installing the operating system. For configuration steps, see the Splunk POD CVD.