Which configuration item should be set to false to significantly improve data ingestion performance?

 This configuration item determines whether Splunk software merges multiple lines into single events. By default, it is set to true, which means that Splunk software attempts to merge lines that do not start with a timestamp into the previous line that has a timestamp. This can improve the accuracy of event breaking, but it can also degrade the performance of data ingestion, as it requires more processing and memory resources. Setting SHOULD_LINEMERGE to false can significantly improve data ingestion performance, especially for data sources that have consistent event boundaries and do not need line merging. However, this can also result in incorrect event breaking for some data sources that have multi-line events or variable formats.

The other options are incorrect because they do not have a significant impact on data ingestion performance. Option A is incorrect because AUTO_KV_JSON is a configuration item that enables automatic key-value extraction for JSON data. It does not affect data ingestion performance, as it only applies to search-time processing. Option B is incorrect because BREAK_ONLY_BEFORE_DATE is a configuration item that controls how Splunk software breaks events based on timestamps. It does not affect data ingestion performance, as it only applies to search-time processing. Option D is incorrect because ANNOTATE_PUNCT is a configuration item that adds punctuation metadata to events for faster field extraction. It does not affect data ingestion performance, as it only applies to search-time processing. References:

Splunk Core Consultant knowledge source documents or study guide: https://www.splunk.com/en_us/resources/splunk-certification-exam-study-guide.html

Splunk Test Blueprint Consultant: https://www.splunk.com/en_us/pdfs/training/splunk-test-blueprint-consultant.pdf

Configure event line merging1

How Splunk software breaks event data into events