# Can a data node be set up to only be allocated replicas?
**URL:** https://discuss.elastic.co/t/can-a-data-node-be-set-up-to-only-be-allocated-replicas/18533
**Category:** Elasticsearch
**Created:** [July 8, 2014, 4:16pm UTC](https://discuss.elastic.co/t/can-a-data-node-be-set-up-to-only-be-allocated-replicas/18533 "2014-07-08T16:16:04Z")
**Posts on this page:** 4
**Page:** 1
### Author:  [@Ned\_Campion](https://discuss.elastic.co/u/Ned_Campion)
#### Post date: [July 8, 2014, 4:16pm UTC](https://discuss.elastic.co/t/can-a-data-node-be-set-up-to-only-be-allocated-replicas/18533/1 "2014-07-08T16:16:04Z")
Hi All,
Been a real joy working with es, and today I'm trying to see if I can stump
es with a tricky config.
Say I have 2 data nodes that contain a collection of indices that were set
up with number\_of\_shards=1 and number\_of\_replicas=1.
Say I want to add a data node that only contains replicas of the existing
shards. My understanding is I can spin up the new data node and then update
the indices to auto\_expand\_replicas=0-all and the new data node will
acquire a replica of all the existing shards.
But, my struggle is to ensure that going forward when new indices are
created that this 3rd node does not get any primary shards.
The general goal is to have a small subset of data nodes that are allowed
to get primary (and replica) shards while another subset of data nodes are
only allowed to get replica shards.
I've been wrestling with auto\_expand\_replicas and the
[index,cluster].routing.allocation.enable settings and can't figure out how
to make it work.
Any suggestions from the es masters out there?
Many thanks,
Ned
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### Author:  [@Ned\_Campion](https://discuss.elastic.co/u/Ned_Campion)
#### Post date: [July 8, 2014, 5:12pm UTC](https://discuss.elastic.co/t/can-a-data-node-be-set-up-to-only-be-allocated-replicas/18533/2 "2014-07-08T17:12:50Z")
Never mind. Anyone please correct me if I'm wrong, but after some thought I
think I've convinced myself that there is no need for such a setup. I think
it's ok for the 3rd node to get primary shards. Still have to test this,
but if I were to have auto\_expand\_replicas set up on all the indices and I
were to remove the node then the number of replicas would decrease by one
and a replica on the other 2 data nodes would be elected as a primary.
N
On Tuesday, July 8, 2014 12:16:04 PM UTC-4, Ned Campion wrote:
> Hi All,
>
> Been a real joy working with es, and today I'm trying to see if I can
> stump es with a tricky config.
>
> Say I have 2 data nodes that contain a collection of indices that were set
> up with number\_of\_shards=1 and number\_of\_replicas=1.
>
> Say I want to add a data node that only contains replicas of the existing
> shards. My understanding is I can spin up the new data node and then update
> the indices to auto\_expand\_replicas=0-all and the new data node will
> acquire a replica of all the existing shards.
>
> But, my struggle is to ensure that going forward when new indices are
> created that this 3rd node does not get any primary shards.
>
> The general goal is to have a small subset of data nodes that are allowed
> to get primary (and replica) shards while another subset of data nodes are
> only allowed to get replica shards.
>
> I've been wrestling with auto\_expand\_replicas and the
> [index,cluster].routing.allocation.enable settings and can't figure out how
> to make it work.
>
> Any suggestions from the es masters out there?
>
> Many thanks,
> Ned
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### Author:  [@warkolm](https://discuss.elastic.co/u/warkolm)
#### Post date: [July 8, 2014, 9:46pm UTC](https://discuss.elastic.co/t/can-a-data-node-be-set-up-to-only-be-allocated-replicas/18533/3 "2014-07-08T21:46:59Z")
There's not really a need as you've discovered.
ES is really good at managing distribution of shards, and unless you are
running specific hardware for storage (ie tiered storage across different
nodes) or you want rack awareness, then it's better to just let ES deal
with the allocation of primary/replicas.
Regards,
Mark Walkom
Infrastructure Engineer
Campaign Monitor
email: [markw@campaignmonitor.com](mailto:markw@campaignmonitor.com)
web: [www.campaignmonitor.com](http://www.campaignmonitor.com)
On 9 July 2014 03:12, Ned Campion [nedcampion@gmail.com](mailto:nedcampion@gmail.com) wrote:
> Never mind. Anyone please correct me if I'm wrong, but after some thought
> I think I've convinced myself that there is no need for such a setup. I
> think it's ok for the 3rd node to get primary shards. Still have to test
> this, but if I were to have auto\_expand\_replicas set up on all the indices
> and I were to remove the node then the number of replicas would decrease by
> one and a replica on the other 2 data nodes would be elected as a primary.
>
> N
>
> On Tuesday, July 8, 2014 12:16:04 PM UTC-4, Ned Campion wrote:
>
> > Hi All,
> >
> > Been a real joy working with es, and today I'm trying to see if I can
> > stump es with a tricky config.
> >
> > Say I have 2 data nodes that contain a collection of indices that were
> > set up with number\_of\_shards=1 and number\_of\_replicas=1.
> >
> > Say I want to add a data node that only contains replicas of the existing
> > shards. My understanding is I can spin up the new data node and then update
> > the indices to auto\_expand\_replicas=0-all and the new data node will
> > acquire a replica of all the existing shards.
> >
> > But, my struggle is to ensure that going forward when new indices are
> > created that this 3rd node does not get any primary shards.
> >
> > The general goal is to have a small subset of data nodes that are allowed
> > to get primary (and replica) shards while another subset of data nodes are
> > only allowed to get replica shards.
> >
> > I've been wrestling with auto\_expand\_replicas and the
> > [index,cluster].routing.allocation.enable settings and can't figure out
> > how to make it work.
> >
> > Any suggestions from the es masters out there?
> >
> > Many thanks,
> > Ned
>
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> [https://groups.google.com/d/msgid/elasticsearch/2e8e7972-3cbc-4074-85a9-f31b6616f81b%40googlegroups.com?utm\_medium=email&utm\_source=footer](https://groups.google.com/d/msgid/elasticsearch/2e8e7972-3cbc-4074-85a9-f31b6616f81b%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:  [@system](https://discuss.elastic.co/u/system)
#### Post date: [July 6, 2017, 1:17am UTC](https://discuss.elastic.co/t/can-a-data-node-be-set-up-to-only-be-allocated-replicas/18533/4 "2017-07-06T01:17:14Z")