Splunk Fundamentals 1 Practice Exam

Which search term is more optimal for performance?

1. access denied

2. NOT access granted

3. "access denied"

4. NOT "access granted"

The correct answer is: "access denied"

The choice of the search term "access denied" is optimal for performance primarily because it is a straightforward query that seeks an exact match to the specified phrase without any additional logical operations that could complicate the search process. Using quotes around "access denied" ensures that Splunk treats it as a single search string, thereby refining the search to a precise phrase match. This reduces the amount of processing needed compared to more complex queries. In contrast, the other options utilize either negation or do not specify exact matches, which can require more resources to evaluate the conditions and retrieve relevant events. Terms such as "NOT access granted" and "NOT 'access granted'" involve negation, necessitating additional computation to filter out results, which can affect performance, especially if there is a large volume of data to sift through. While negation can be useful in some contexts, it typically results in a less efficient search than a simple, straightforward term.