What is the default maximum number of hot buckets in Splunk's indexes.conf?

The default maximum number of hot buckets in Splunk's indexes.conf is indeed set to 3. This setting is crucial for managing the storage and indexing performance of Splunk. Hot buckets are the active data buckets where incoming data is written in real-time. By limiting the number of hot buckets, Splunk can efficiently manage system resources and maintain optimal performance during the indexing process.

When the number of hot buckets reaches the configured limit, Splunk begins to roll over the oldest hot bucket into a warm state, allowing for the system to continue accepting new data. This mechanism prevents potential overload on the indexing layer and helps ensure that Splunk can handle incoming data smoothly.

Understanding this configuration setting is vital for system administrators as it directly impacts how Splunk manages data ingestion and storage. Proper adjustment of this value may be necessary based on the specific workload and data volume, but the default of three provides a balanced starting point for most environments.