Betsy Page Sigman - Splunk essentials: leverage the power to efficiently analyze machine, log, web, and social media data

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First published: February 2015

Second Edition: September 2016

Production reference: 1260916

Published by Packt Publishing Ltd.

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Betsy Page Sigman is a distinguished professor at the McDonough School of Business at Georgetown University in Washington, D.C. She has taught courses in statistics, project management, databases, and electronic commerce for the last 17 years and has been recognized with awards for teaching and service. Before arriving at Georgetown, she worked at George Mason University, the U.S. Bureau of the Census, Decision/Making/Information, the American Enterprise Institute, and the Social Science Data Center (now Roper Center) at the University of Connecticut.

Her recent publications include a Harvard Business case study and a Harvard Business review article, articles in the Decision Sciences Journal of Innovative Education and Decision Line, and a case study in Educause Review Online. Additionally, she is a frequent media commentator on technological issues and big data.

A big thank you to Nikhil Borkar and Vinay Argekar and the other editors and staff at Packt Publishing for your help in every step along the way to finishing this book. Thanks also to my colleagues and students at the McDonough School of Business at Georgetown University. Thanks especially to Bill Garr, Rob Pongsajapan, Marie Selvanandin, and Kristin Bolling, and the Center for New Designs in Learning and Scholarship (CNDLS), for exploring the exciting world of big data and Splunk together. It has been a wonderful place to learn, grow, and serve for the last 16 years.

I need to thank my brothers, Tim and Rick Page, for being there to challenge and encourage me throughout my life. Most of all, I want to thank my brilliant and wonderful husband, Chuck, my astonishing daughter and son-in-law, Page and Daniel Thies, and my three sons. Johnny, thanks for always inspiring me technologically; Richard, thanks for your sense of humor that keeps us all laughing; and James, thanks for always being there for all of us. Edward and Peter, the grandsons who light up all our lives, are too young to read this now. They were born into an extraordinary worldone that I hope and pray technology will continue to improve.

Erickson Delgado is an enterprise architect who loves to mine and analyze data. He began using Splunk in version 4.0 and has pioneered the use of the application in his current work. In the earlier parts of his career, he worked with start-up companies in the Philippines to help build their open source infrastructure. He then worked in the cruise industry as a shipboard IT manager, and he loved it. From there, he was recruited to work at the companys headquarters as a software engineer.

He has developed applications with Python and Node.js. He is interested in Go and is rediscovering programming with C/C++. He is crazy about visualization platforms and tools. In recent years, he has engaged himself with employing DevOps in his work.

Since Ericksons routine revolves around technical practices, he blows off steam by saltwater fishing, mountain biking, crafting robots, and touring the country. He lives in Orlando.

To my wife, Emma, thank you for the never-ending support and patience.

Somesh Soni is a Splunk consultant with over 11 years of IT experience. He has a bachelor's degree (Hons.) in computer science and has been interested in exploring and learning new technologies throughout his life. He has extensive experience in consulting, architecture, administration, and development in Splunk. Hes proficient in various programming languages and tools, including C#.NET/VB.NET, SSIS, and SQL Server.

Somesh is currently working as a Splunk Master with Randstad Technologies. His activities are focused on consulting, implementation, admin, architecture, and support-related activities for Splunk. He started his career with the one of the top three Indian IT giants. He has executed projects for major Fortune 500 companies such as Coca Cola, Wells Fargo, Microsoft, and Capital Group. He has performed in various capacities, including Technical Architect, Technical Lead, Onsite Coordinator, and Technology Analyst.

Somesh has been a great contributor to the Splunk community and has consistently been at the top of the list. He is a member of Splunk Trust 2015-16 and overall one of the topmost contributors to the Splunk Answers community.

I would like to thank my family and colleagues, who have always encouraged and supported me to follow my dreams, and my friends, who put up with all my crazy antics while I went on a Splunk exploratory journey and listened with patience to all the tips and tricks of Splunk that I shared with them.

Last but not least, I would like to express my gratitude to the entire team at Packt Publishing for giving me this opportunity.

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