Which Splunk component is responsible for receiving and indexing data?

The indexer is the Splunk component that is specifically designed to receive and index data. When data is ingested into Splunk, it goes through a series of processes including parsing, transforming, and storing. The indexer executes these functions by taking raw incoming data, indexing it for fast retrieval, and making it searchable through the Splunk platform.

The indexer also creates a series of file structures that facilitate efficient storage and retrieval, enabling users to perform rapid searches on large datasets. By keeping a compressed copy of the data in its indexed format, the indexer plays a crucial role in ensuring that searches are both quick and resource-effective.

In contrast, while the search head is responsible for managing user queries and display results, it does not handle the ingestion or indexing processes directly. The deployment server primarily manages and deploys configurations to other Splunk components but is not responsible for data indexing. The forwarder is used to gather data and pass it to the indexer, but it does not perform the indexing itself. Thus, the indexer stands out as the key component for these essential functions in the Splunk architecture.