What are the two types of Splunk forwarders?

The two types of Splunk forwarders are Universal Forwarder and Heavy Forwarder.

The Universal Forwarder is a lightweight agent that allows for the efficient collection and forwarding of log data to the Splunk indexer. It is designed to have a minimal footprint on system resources and is optimized for data transport. This forwarder does not parse or index data on the source machine but streams it to the indexer for processing.

On the other hand, the Heavy Forwarder is more robust and capable of performing additional tasks. It not only collects and forwards data but is also capable of parsing, indexing, and applying transformations to the data before it sends it to the indexer. This is especially useful in scenarios where preprocessing is needed or when the data needs to be enriched before being sent for indexing.

These two types of forwarders serve different purposes depending on the needs of the deployment, such as resource constraints and processing requirements. This distinction is essential for effective Splunk architecture design and data handling strategies within an organization's Splunk deployment.