Which of the following enables reliable and fault-tolerant delivery in Splunk Connect for Syslog?

In Splunk Connect for Syslog, reliable and fault-tolerant delivery is primarily achieved through the use of forwarders. Forwarders are responsible for collecting and sending log data to the Splunk platform. They are designed to ensure that data is reliably transmitted even in the event of network interruptions or failures. By buffering the data locally, forwarders can ensure that logs are not lost and will be sent as soon as the connection is re-established.

While the other options may contribute to specific functionalities within Splunk or its ecosystem, they do not inherently provide the same level of reliability and fault tolerance in data delivery as forwarders. Custom filters, for instance, are used to determine which data to send but do not manage the sending process itself. Intermediate storage is relevant for buffering data but does not specifically provide a fault-tolerance mechanism within the context of syslog messages. Direct TCP connections can improve data transfer speed and reduce latency but they alone do not offer the reliability features provided by forwarders. Thus, forwarders are the critical component for ensuring that data delivery is both reliable and fault-tolerant in Splunk Connect for Syslog.