SPLK-1002 Advanced Searching and Statistics Practice Question
An analyst wants to find the top 5 users who have the highest total bytes transferred. The data has fields 'user' and 'bytes'. Which search should be used?
⚠ Common exam trap
Test-takers frequently confuse `max` with `sum` for total calculations, or mistakenly think sorting raw events and taking the top 5 yields user-level totals, when in fact aggregation by user is required first.
Answer choices
Why each option matters
Answer the question above first, then reveal the full breakdown to understand why each option is right or wrong.
Correct answer & explanation
✓
| stats sum(bytes) as total_bytes by user | sort - total_bytes | head 5
It uses `stats sum(bytes) as total_bytes by user` to aggregate the total bytes transferred per user, then sorts the results in descending order with `sort - total_bytes`, and finally limits the output to the top 5 users with `head 5`. This directly answers the requirement for the highest total bytes transferred.
Answer analysis
Option-by-option breakdown
For each option: why learners choose it and why it is or isn't the right answer here.
- ✗
| stats max(bytes) as max_bytes by user | sort - max_bytes | head 5
Why it's wrong here
This shows maximum bytes, not total bytes.
- ✓
| stats sum(bytes) as total_bytes by user | sort - total_bytes | head 5
Why this is correct
This correctly sums bytes per user, sorts descending, and takes top 5.
- ✗
| sort - bytes | head 5 | table user, bytes
Why it's wrong here
This shows the top 5 events by bytes, not aggregated by user.
- ✗
| top limit=5 user
Why it's wrong here
top command shows the most frequent values, not sum of bytes.
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Written by Johnson Ajibi, MSc IT Security
Senior Network & Security Engineer · founder of Courseiva
This SPLK-1002 practice question is part of Courseiva's free Splunk certification practice question bank. Courseiva provides original exam-style practice questions with explanations, topic-based practice, mock exams, readiness tracking, and study analytics to help learners prepare for the SPLK-1002 exam.