What is Splunk POD?
Author: Jake Hammacott
Release Date: 22/01/2026
Splunk POD (Platform on Demand) integrates Splunk Enterprise software and Cisco UCS hardware into a standardised, semi-automated deployment. This pre-packaged solution of software and hardware streamlines the deployment process, leading to a faster time to value with Splunk and less complexity in managing environments with multiple vendors.
For customers new to deploying Splunk Enterprise on-premises, Splunk POD offers a simplified, unified, and easier-to-deploy solution. This approach reduces the complexity of procurement and setup steps and benefits from unified support provided by Cisco.
Splunk POD comes with a set of pre-validated, right-sized configurations designed to simplify the deployment process and eliminate the guesswork often associated with capacity planning, allowing your team to focus on security and operations rather than infrastructure management.
Cisco offer three distinct ingestion sizes to match your organisation’s data volume needs:
• Small: Designed for organisations with moderate data volumes, supporting up to 500 GB per day of data ingestion.
This is an ideal starting point for smaller environments or proof-of-concept deployments.
• Medium: A balanced option for growing enterprises, capable of handling a significant data flow up to 1 TB per day of data ingestion.
• Large: Tailored for higher-volume environments, offering robust capacity for up to 2.5 TB per day of data ingestion.
By choosing one of these pre-validated configurations, you benefit from a proven architecture that accelerates time-to-value and ensures your Splunk environment is deployed on a solid, performance-tuned foundation from day one:
• Eliminate Complexity: Say goodbye to juggling multiple vendors and complicated setups.
• Boost Efficiency: Free your IT staff from routine maintenance with automated lifecycle management.
• Scale with Confidence: Easily grow your analytics platform as your business expands.
• Stay Secure and Compliant: Integrate infrastructure insights with Splunk’s Enterprise Security as an optional add-on for a stronger defence.
• Partner with a Trusted Leader: Cisco’s comprehensive support for the end-to-end solution ensures you’re never alone on your data journey.
Why Use Splunk POD?
Historically, setting up a large-scale Splunk environment on-premises required months of planning for storage IOPS, CPU allocation, and networking.
Splunk POD aims to make this "turnkey":
Feature | Description |
|---|---|
Speed | Reduces deployment time from weeks/months to just hours using automated installers. |
Performance | Uses a “validated design,” meaning the hardware has been specifically tested to handle Splunk’s high-ingest and search-heavy workloads. |
Unified Support | As Splunk POD utilises a partnership between Splunk Software and Cisco Infrastructure, a single point of contact for troubleshooting can be offered for both server hardware and Splunk software. |
Elasticity | Because it is built on Kubernetes, you can scale your search heads or indexers up and down much more easily than with traditional “bare metal” installs. |
Splunk POD offers a consistent, appliance-like experience that significantly reduces operational complexity and risk. This integrated solution is designed to accelerate insights, enhance threat detection, and improve operational efficiency. By eliminating the guesswork and delays associated with traditional multi-vendor deployments, Splunk POD allows teams to focus on achieving business outcomes, delivering faster incident response, and ensuring comprehensive security coverage.