# A few questions about node types + usage
**URL:** https://discuss.elastic.co/t/a-few-questions-about-node-types-usage/19251
**Category:** Elasticsearch
**Created:** [August 13, 2014, 11:10am UTC](https://discuss.elastic.co/t/a-few-questions-about-node-types-usage/19251 "2014-08-13T11:10:14Z")
**Posts on this page:** 7
**Page:** 1
### Author:  [@Alex\_6](https://discuss.elastic.co/u/Alex_6)
#### Post date: [August 13, 2014, 11:10am UTC](https://discuss.elastic.co/t/a-few-questions-about-node-types-usage/19251/1 "2014-08-13T11:10:14Z")
Hello I would like some clarification about node types and their usage.
We will have 3 client nodes and 6 data nodes. The 6 1TB data nodes can also
be masters (discovery.zen.minimum\_master\_nodes set to 4). We will use
Logstash and Kibana. Kibana will be used 24/7 by between a couple and
handfuls of people.
Some questions:
1. Should incoming Logstash write requests be sent to the cluster in
general (using the _cluster_ setting in the _elasticsearch_ output) or
specifically to the client nodes or to the data nodes (via load balancer)?
I am unsure what kind of node is best for handling writes.
2. If client nodes exist in the cluster are Kibana requests
automatically routed to them? Do I need to somehow specify to Kibana which
nodes to contact?
3. I have heard different information about master nodes and the
minimum\_master\_node setting. I've heard that you should have a odd number
of master nodes but I fail to see why the parity of the number of masters
matters as long as minimum\_master\_node is set to at least N/2 + 1. Does it
really need to be odd?
4. I have been advised that the client nodes will use huge amount of
memory (which makes sense due to the nature of the Kibana facet queries).
64GB per client node was recommended but I have no idea if that sounds
right or not. I don't have the ability to actually test it right now so any
more guidance on that would be helpful.
I'd be so grateful to hear from you even if you only know something about
one of my queries.
Thank you for your time,
Alex
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### Author:  [@Alex\_6](https://discuss.elastic.co/u/Alex_6)
#### Post date: [August 15, 2014, 10:11am UTC](https://discuss.elastic.co/t/a-few-questions-about-node-types-usage/19251/2 "2014-08-15T10:11:43Z")
Bump. Any help? Thanks
On Wednesday, 13 August 2014 12:10:14 UTC+1, Alex wrote:
> Hello I would like some clarification about node types and their usage.
>
> We will have 3 client nodes and 6 data nodes. The 6 1TB data nodes can
> also be masters (discovery.zen.minimum\_master\_nodes set to 4). We will
> use Logstash and Kibana. Kibana will be used 24/7 by between a couple and
> handfuls of people.
>
> Some questions:
>
> 1. Should incoming Logstash write requests be sent to the cluster in
> general (using the _cluster_ setting in the _elasticsearch_ output) or
> specifically to the client nodes or to the data nodes (via load balancer)?
> I am unsure what kind of node is best for handling writes.
>
> 2. If client nodes exist in the cluster are Kibana requests
> automatically routed to them? Do I need to somehow specify to Kibana which
> nodes to contact?
>
> 3. I have heard different information about master nodes and the
> minimum\_master\_node setting. I've heard that you should have a odd number
> of master nodes but I fail to see why the parity of the number of masters
> matters as long as minimum\_master\_node is set to at least N/2 + 1. Does it
> really need to be odd?
>
> 4. I have been advised that the client nodes will use huge amount of
> memory (which makes sense due to the nature of the Kibana facet queries).
> 64GB per client node was recommended but I have no idea if that sounds
> right or not. I don't have the ability to actually test it right now so any
> more guidance on that would be helpful.
>
> I'd be so grateful to hear from you even if you only know something about
> one of my queries.
>
> Thank you for your time,
> Alex
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### Author:  [@warkolm](https://discuss.elastic.co/u/warkolm)
#### Post date: [August 16, 2014, 12:03am UTC](https://discuss.elastic.co/t/a-few-questions-about-node-types-usage/19251/3 "2014-08-16T00:03:44Z")
1 - Up to you. We use the http output and then just use a round robin A
record to our 3 masters.
2 - They are routed but it makes more sense to specify.
3 - You're right, but most people only use 1 or 2 masters which is why they
get recommended to have at least 3.
4 - That sounds like a lot. We use masters that double as clients and they
only have 8GB, our use sounds similar and we don't have issues.
I wouldn't bother with 3 client only nodes to start, use them as master and
client and then if you find you are hitting memory issues due to queries
you can re-evaluate things.
Regards,
Mark Walkom
Infrastructure Engineer
Campaign Monitor
email: [markw@campaignmonitor.com](mailto:markw@campaignmonitor.com)
web: [www.campaignmonitor.com](http://www.campaignmonitor.com)
On 15 August 2014 20:11, Alex [alex.monson@gmail.com](mailto:alex.monson@gmail.com) wrote:
> Bump. Any help? Thanks
>
> On Wednesday, 13 August 2014 12:10:14 UTC+1, Alex wrote:
>
> > Hello I would like some clarification about node types and their usage.
> >
> > We will have 3 client nodes and 6 data nodes. The 6 1TB data nodes can
> > also be masters (discovery.zen.minimum\_master\_nodes set to 4). We will
> > use Logstash and Kibana. Kibana will be used 24/7 by between a couple and
> > handfuls of people.
> >
> > Some questions:
> >
> > 1. Should incoming Logstash write requests be sent to the cluster in
> > general (using the _cluster_ setting in the _elasticsearch_ output)
> > or specifically to the client nodes or to the data nodes (via load
> > balancer)? I am unsure what kind of node is best for handling writes.
> >
> > 2. If client nodes exist in the cluster are Kibana requests
> > automatically routed to them? Do I need to somehow specify to Kibana which
> > nodes to contact?
> >
> > 3. I have heard different information about master nodes and the
> > minimum\_master\_node setting. I've heard that you should have a odd number
> > of master nodes but I fail to see why the parity of the number of masters
> > matters as long as minimum\_master\_node is set to at least N/2 + 1. Does it
> > really need to be odd?
> >
> > 4. I have been advised that the client nodes will use huge amount of
> > memory (which makes sense due to the nature of the Kibana facet queries).
> > 64GB per client node was recommended but I have no idea if that sounds
> > right or not. I don't have the ability to actually test it right now so any
> > more guidance on that would be helpful.
> >
> > I'd be so grateful to hear from you even if you only know something about
> > one of my queries.
> >
> > Thank you for your time,
> > Alex
>
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> .
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### Author:  [@Alex\_6](https://discuss.elastic.co/u/Alex_6)
#### Post date: [August 18, 2014, 12:49pm UTC](https://discuss.elastic.co/t/a-few-questions-about-node-types-usage/19251/4 "2014-08-18T12:49:45Z")
Hello again Mark,
Thanks for your response. Your answers really are very helpful.
As with our previous conversation
[https://groups.google.com/d/topic/elasticsearch/ZouS4NVsTJw/discussion](https://groups.google.com/d/topic/elasticsearch/ZouS4NVsTJw/discussion) I
am confused about how to make a client node also be master eligible. This
is what I posted there, I would really like some help understanding this:
I've done more investigating and it seems that a Client (AKA Query) node
cannot also be a Master node. As it says here
> **[Elasticsearch Platform — Find real-time answers at scale](https://www.elastic.co)**
>
> Power insights and outcomes with the Elasticsearch Platform and AI. See into your data and find answers that matter with enterprise solutions designed to help you build, observe, and protect. Try Elasticsearch free today.
_Nodes can be excluded from becoming a master by setting node.master to
false. Note, once a node is a client node (node.client set to true), it
will not be allowed to become a master (node.master is automatically set to
false)._
And from the elasticsearch.yml config file it says:
_# 2. You want this node to only serve as a master: to not store any data
and # to have free resources. This will be the "coordinator" of your
cluster. # #node.master: true #node.data: false # # 3. You want this node
to be neither master nor data node, but # to act as a "search load
balancer" (fetching data from nodes, # aggregating results,
etc.) # #node.master: false #node.data: false_
So I'm wondering how exactly you set up your client nodes to also be master
nodes. It seems like a master node can only either be purely a master or
master + data.
Perhaps you could show the relevant parts of one of your client node's
config?
Many thanks, Alex
On Saturday, 16 August 2014 01:04:37 UTC+1, Mark Walkom wrote:
> 1 - Up to you. We use the http output and then just use a round robin A
> record to our 3 masters.
> 2 - They are routed but it makes more sense to specify.
> 3 - You're right, but most people only use 1 or 2 masters which is why
> they get recommended to have at least 3.
> 4 - That sounds like a lot. We use masters that double as clients and they
> only have 8GB, our use sounds similar and we don't have issues.
>
> I wouldn't bother with 3 client only nodes to start, use them as master
> and client and then if you find you are hitting memory issues due to
> queries you can re-evaluate things.
>
> Regards,
> Mark Walkom
>
> Infrastructure Engineer
> Campaign Monitor
> email: [ma...@campaignmonitor.com](mailto:ma...@campaignmonitor.com) \
> web: [www.campaignmonitor.com](http://www.campaignmonitor.com)
>
> On 15 August 2014 20:11, Alex \<[alex....@gmail.com](mailto:alex....@gmail.com) \\> wrote:
>
> > Bump. Any help? Thanks
> >
> > On Wednesday, 13 August 2014 12:10:14 UTC+1, Alex wrote:
> >
> > > Hello I would like some clarification about node types and their usage.
> > >
> > > We will have 3 client nodes and 6 data nodes. The 6 1TB data nodes can
> > > also be masters (discovery.zen.minimum\_master\_nodes set to 4). We will
> > > use Logstash and Kibana. Kibana will be used 24/7 by between a couple and
> > > handfuls of people.
> > >
> > > Some questions:
> > >
> > > 1. Should incoming Logstash write requests be sent to the cluster in
> > > general (using the _cluster_ setting in the _elasticsearch_ output)
> > > or specifically to the client nodes or to the data nodes (via load
> > > balancer)? I am unsure what kind of node is best for handling writes.
> > >
> > > 2. If client nodes exist in the cluster are Kibana requests
> > > automatically routed to them? Do I need to somehow specify to Kibana which
> > > nodes to contact?
> > >
> > > 3. I have heard different information about master nodes and the
> > > minimum\_master\_node setting. I've heard that you should have a odd number
> > > of master nodes but I fail to see why the parity of the number of masters
> > > matters as long as minimum\_master\_node is set to at least N/2 + 1. Does it
> > > really need to be odd?
> > >
> > > 4. I have been advised that the client nodes will use huge amount of
> > > memory (which makes sense due to the nature of the Kibana facet queries).
> > > 64GB per client node was recommended but I have no idea if that sounds
> > > right or not. I don't have the ability to actually test it right now so any
> > > more guidance on that would be helpful.
> > >
> > > I'd be so grateful to hear from you even if you only know something
> > > about one of my queries.
> > >
> > > Thank you for your time,
> > > Alex
> >
> > --
> > You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups
> > "elasticsearch" group.
> > To unsubscribe from this group and stop receiving emails from it, send an
> > email to [elasticsearc...@googlegroups.com](mailto:elasticsearc...@googlegroups.com) \.
> > To view this discussion on the web visit
> > [https://groups.google.com/d/msgid/elasticsearch/70b16a1e-319c-4f7c-b129-b68258b3652f%40googlegroups.com](https://groups.google.com/d/msgid/elasticsearch/70b16a1e-319c-4f7c-b129-b68258b3652f%40googlegroups.com)
> > [https://groups.google.com/d/msgid/elasticsearch/70b16a1e-319c-4f7c-b129-b68258b3652f%40googlegroups.com?utm\_medium=email&utm\_source=footer](https://groups.google.com/d/msgid/elasticsearch/70b16a1e-319c-4f7c-b129-b68258b3652f%40googlegroups.com?utm_medium=email&utm_source=footer)
> > .
> > For more options, visit [https://groups.google.com/d/optout](https://groups.google.com/d/optout).
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### Author:  [@warkolm](https://discuss.elastic.co/u/warkolm)
#### Post date: [August 19, 2014, 5:21am UTC](https://discuss.elastic.co/t/a-few-questions-about-node-types-usage/19251/5 "2014-08-19T05:21:51Z")
Master, data and client are really just abstractions of different
combinations of node.data and node.master values.
A node.master=true, node.data=false can handle both cluster management and
queries.
Regards,
Mark Walkom
Infrastructure Engineer
Campaign Monitor
email: [markw@campaignmonitor.com](mailto:markw@campaignmonitor.com)
web: [www.campaignmonitor.com](http://www.campaignmonitor.com)
On 18 August 2014 22:49, Alex [alex.monson@gmail.com](mailto:alex.monson@gmail.com) wrote:
> Hello again Mark,
>
> Thanks for your response. Your answers really are very helpful.
>
> As with our previous conversation
> [https://groups.google.com/d/topic/elasticsearch/ZouS4NVsTJw/discussion](https://groups.google.com/d/topic/elasticsearch/ZouS4NVsTJw/discussion) I
> am confused about how to make a client node also be master eligible. This
> is what I posted there, I would really like some help understanding this:
>
> I've done more investigating and it seems that a Client (AKA Query) node
> cannot also be a Master node. As it says here [http://www.elasticsearch](http://www.elasticsearch).
> org/guide/en/elasticsearch/reference/current/modules-
> discovery-zen.html#master-election
>
> _Nodes can be excluded from becoming a master by setting node.master to
> false. Note, once a node is a client node (node.client set to true), it
> will not be allowed to become a master (node.master is automatically set to
> false)._
>
> And from the elasticsearch.yml config file it says:
>
> \*# 2. You want this node to only serve as a master: to not store any data
> and # to have free resources. This will be the "coordinator" of your
> cluster. # #node.master: true #node.data: false # # 3. You want this node
> to be neither master nor data node, but # to act as a "search load
> balancer" (fetching data from nodes, # aggregating results, etc.)
>
> # #node.master: false #node.data: false\*
>
> So I'm wondering how exactly you set up your client nodes to also be
> master nodes. It seems like a master node can only either be purely a
> master or master + data.
>
> Perhaps you could show the relevant parts of one of your client node's
> config?
>
> Many thanks, Alex
>
> On Saturday, 16 August 2014 01:04:37 UTC+1, Mark Walkom wrote:
>
> > 1 - Up to you. We use the http output and then just use a round robin A
> > record to our 3 masters.
> > 2 - They are routed but it makes more sense to specify.
> > 3 - You're right, but most people only use 1 or 2 masters which is why
> > they get recommended to have at least 3.
> > 4 - That sounds like a lot. We use masters that double as clients and
> > they only have 8GB, our use sounds similar and we don't have issues.
> >
> > I wouldn't bother with 3 client only nodes to start, use them as master
> > and client and then if you find you are hitting memory issues due to
> > queries you can re-evaluate things.
> >
> > Regards,
> > Mark Walkom
> >
> > Infrastructure Engineer
> > Campaign Monitor
> > email: [ma...@campaignmonitor.com](mailto:ma...@campaignmonitor.com)
> > web: [www.campaignmonitor.com](http://www.campaignmonitor.com)
> >
> > On 15 August 2014 20:11, Alex [alex....@gmail.com](mailto:alex....@gmail.com) wrote:
> >
> > > Bump. Any help? Thanks
> > >
> > > On Wednesday, 13 August 2014 12:10:14 UTC+1, Alex wrote:
> > >
> > > > Hello I would like some clarification about node types and their usage.
> > > >
> > > > We will have 3 client nodes and 6 data nodes. The 6 1TB data nodes can
> > > > also be masters (discovery.zen.minimum\_master\_nodes set to 4). We will
> > > > use Logstash and Kibana. Kibana will be used 24/7 by between a couple and
> > > > handfuls of people.
> > > >
> > > > Some questions:
> > > >
> > > > 1. Should incoming Logstash write requests be sent to the cluster
> > > > in general (using the _cluster_ setting in the _elasticsearch_
> > > > output) or specifically to the client nodes or to the data nodes (via load
> > > > balancer)? I am unsure what kind of node is best for handling writes.
> > > >
> > > > 2. If client nodes exist in the cluster are Kibana requests
> > > > automatically routed to them? Do I need to somehow specify to Kibana which
> > > > nodes to contact?
> > > >
> > > > 3. I have heard different information about master nodes and the
> > > > minimum\_master\_node setting. I've heard that you should have a odd number
> > > > of master nodes but I fail to see why the parity of the number of masters
> > > > matters as long as minimum\_master\_node is set to at least N/2 + 1. Does it
> > > > really need to be odd?
> > > >
> > > > 4. I have been advised that the client nodes will use huge amount
> > > > of memory (which makes sense due to the nature of the Kibana facet
> > > > queries). 64GB per client node was recommended but I have no idea if that
> > > > sounds right or not. I don't have the ability to actually test it right now
> > > > so any more guidance on that would be helpful.
> > > >
> > > > I'd be so grateful to hear from you even if you only know something
> > > > about one of my queries.
> > > >
> > > > Thank you for your time,
> > > > Alex
> > >
> > > --
> > > You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google
> > > Groups "elasticsearch" group.
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> > > msgid/elasticsearch/70b16a1e-319c-4f7c-b129-b68258b3652f%
> > > [40googlegroups.com](http://40googlegroups.com)
> > > [https://groups.google.com/d/msgid/elasticsearch/70b16a1e-319c-4f7c-b129-b68258b3652f%40googlegroups.com?utm\_medium=email&utm\_source=footer](https://groups.google.com/d/msgid/elasticsearch/70b16a1e-319c-4f7c-b129-b68258b3652f%40googlegroups.com?utm_medium=email&utm_source=footer)
> > > .
> > > For more options, visit [https://groups.google.com/d/optout](https://groups.google.com/d/optout).
> >
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> > .
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### Author:  [@jprante](https://discuss.elastic.co/u/jprante)
#### Post date: [August 19, 2014, 7:37am UTC](https://discuss.elastic.co/t/a-few-questions-about-node-types-usage/19251/6 "2014-08-19T07:37:56Z")
In the Java API, when you start a node, you can set "client(true)" or
"node.client: true".
When becoming a client, a node can no longer store data or become a master.
The node role is also recognized during discovery, so a cluster can decide
how to add the node to the cluster:
node.master = true --\> this node is eligible for becoming a master
node.data = true -\> this node is added to shard routing
node.client = true -\> this node is ignored from master election/shard
routing
Jörg
On Mon, Aug 18, 2014 at 2:49 PM, Alex [alex.monson@gmail.com](mailto:alex.monson@gmail.com) wrote:
> Hello again Mark,
>
> Thanks for your response. Your answers really are very helpful.
>
> As with our previous conversation
> [https://groups.google.com/d/topic/elasticsearch/ZouS4NVsTJw/discussion](https://groups.google.com/d/topic/elasticsearch/ZouS4NVsTJw/discussion) I
> am confused about how to make a client node also be master eligible. This
> is what I posted there, I would really like some help understanding this:
>
> I've done more investigating and it seems that a Client (AKA Query) node
> cannot also be a Master node. As it says here [http://www.elasticsearch](http://www.elasticsearch).
> org/guide/en/elasticsearch/reference/current/modules-
> discovery-zen.html#master-election
>
> _Nodes can be excluded from becoming a master by setting node.master to
> false. Note, once a node is a client node (node.client set to true), it
> will not be allowed to become a master (node.master is automatically set to
> false)._
>
> And from the elasticsearch.yml config file it says:
>
> _# 2. You want this node to only serve as a master: to not store any data
> and # to have free resources. This will be the "coordinator" of your
> cluster. # #node.master: true #node.data: false # # 3. You want this node
> to be neither master nor data node, but # to act as a "search load
> balancer" (fetching data from nodes, # aggregating results,
> etc.) # #node.master: false #node.data: false_
>
> So I'm wondering how exactly you set up your client nodes to also be
> master nodes. It seems like a master node can only either be purely a
> master or master + data.
>
> Perhaps you could show the relevant parts of one of your client node's
> config?
>
> Many thanks, Alex
>
> On Saturday, 16 August 2014 01:04:37 UTC+1, Mark Walkom wrote:
>
> > 1 - Up to you. We use the http output and then just use a round robin A
> > record to our 3 masters.
> > 2 - They are routed but it makes more sense to specify.
> > 3 - You're right, but most people only use 1 or 2 masters which is why
> > they get recommended to have at least 3.
> > 4 - That sounds like a lot. We use masters that double as clients and
> > they only have 8GB, our use sounds similar and we don't have issues.
> >
> > I wouldn't bother with 3 client only nodes to start, use them as master
> > and client and then if you find you are hitting memory issues due to
> > queries you can re-evaluate things.
> >
> > Regards,
> > Mark Walkom
> >
> > Infrastructure Engineer
> > Campaign Monitor
> > email: [ma...@campaignmonitor.com](mailto:ma...@campaignmonitor.com)
> > web: [www.campaignmonitor.com](http://www.campaignmonitor.com)
> >
> > On 15 August 2014 20:11, Alex [alex....@gmail.com](mailto:alex....@gmail.com) wrote:
> >
> > > Bump. Any help? Thanks
> > >
> > > On Wednesday, 13 August 2014 12:10:14 UTC+1, Alex wrote:
> > >
> > > > Hello I would like some clarification about node types and their usage.
> > > >
> > > > We will have 3 client nodes and 6 data nodes. The 6 1TB data nodes can
> > > > also be masters (discovery.zen.minimum\_master\_nodes set to 4). We will
> > > > use Logstash and Kibana. Kibana will be used 24/7 by between a couple and
> > > > handfuls of people.
> > > >
> > > > Some questions:
> > > >
> > > > 1. Should incoming Logstash write requests be sent to the cluster
> > > > in general (using the _cluster_ setting in the _elasticsearch_
> > > > output) or specifically to the client nodes or to the data nodes (via load
> > > > balancer)? I am unsure what kind of node is best for handling writes.
> > > >
> > > > 2. If client nodes exist in the cluster are Kibana requests
> > > > automatically routed to them? Do I need to somehow specify to Kibana which
> > > > nodes to contact?
> > > >
> > > > 3. I have heard different information about master nodes and the
> > > > minimum\_master\_node setting. I've heard that you should have a odd number
> > > > of master nodes but I fail to see why the parity of the number of masters
> > > > matters as long as minimum\_master\_node is set to at least N/2 + 1. Does it
> > > > really need to be odd?
> > > >
> > > > 4. I have been advised that the client nodes will use huge amount
> > > > of memory (which makes sense due to the nature of the Kibana facet
> > > > queries). 64GB per client node was recommended but I have no idea if that
> > > > sounds right or not. I don't have the ability to actually test it right now
> > > > so any more guidance on that would be helpful.
> > > >
> > > > I'd be so grateful to hear from you even if you only know something
> > > > about one of my queries.
> > > >
> > > > Thank you for your time,
> > > > Alex
> > >
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### Author:  [@system](https://discuss.elastic.co/u/system)
#### Post date: [July 6, 2017, 1:07am UTC](https://discuss.elastic.co/t/a-few-questions-about-node-types-usage/19251/7 "2017-07-06T01:07:46Z")