# Data redundancy with a single nested level vs multilevel nested document

**URL:** <https://discuss.elastic.co/t/data-redundancy-with-a-single-nested-level-vs-multilevel-nested-document/278471>\
**Category:** Elasticsearch\
**Created:** [July 12, 2021, 9:57pm UTC](https://discuss.elastic.co/t/data-redundancy-with-a-single-nested-level-vs-multilevel-nested-document/278471 "2021-07-12T21:57:40Z")\
**Posts on this page:** 7\
**Page:** 1

<div class="post-metadata">

**Author:** ![sai\_Yeluri](https://sea2.discourse-cdn.com/elastic/user_avatar/discuss.elastic.co/sai_yeluri/32/90626_2.png) [@sai\_Yeluri](https://discuss.elastic.co/u/sai_Yeluri)\
**Post date:** [July 12, 2021, 9:57pm UTC](https://discuss.elastic.co/t/data-redundancy-with-a-single-nested-level-vs-multilevel-nested-document/278471/1 "2021-07-12T21:57:40Z")

</div>

Is it better to have a data redundancy with single nested object or maintain multilevel nested document?

There are performance concerns when nested types are used, as per elasticsearch documentation [Nested field type | Elasticsearch Guide [7.13] | Elastic](https://www.elastic.co/guide/en/elasticsearch/reference/current/nested.html#_how_arrays_of_objects_are_flattened)

In the below data Scenario#1-\> lineLevelDetails (single level nested)captures line, shipment and carton information.  
Scenario#2-\> Shipment(nested) and carton (nested) details are multi-level nested.

Can experts suggest which scenario is a better option?  
Also, updates are expected for lineleveldetails, shipment and cartons data.

**Scenario#1:**  
{  
"orderLocation": "xyz",  
"orderStatusCode": "6",  
"orderId": "2214828263 ",  
"lineLevelDetails": [  
{  
"lineId": "1",  
"shipmentId": "1",  
"lineStatusCode": "3",  
"shipmentStatusCode": "3",  
"shipmentStatusDesc": "",  
"deliveryStatus": "",  
"deliveryStatusTs": "",  
"deliveryTrackingNumber": "",  
"cartonNumber": 1234  
},  
{  
"lineId": "2",  
"shipmentId": "1",  
"lineStatusCode": "3",  
"shipmentStatusCode": "3",  
"shipmentStatusDesc": "",  
"deliveryStatus": "",  
"deliveryStatusTs": "",  
"deliveryTrackingNumber": "",  
"cartonNumber": 4567  
},  
{  
"lineId": "3",  
"shipmentId": "1",  
"lineStatusCode": "3",  
"shipmentStatusCode": "3",  
"shipmentStatusDesc": "",  
"deliveryStatus": "",  
"deliveryStatusTs": "",  
"deliveryTrackingNumber": "",  
"cartonNumber": 3333  
}  
]  
}

**Scenario#2:**  
{  
"orderLocation": "xyz",  
"orderStatusCode": "6",  
"orderId": "2214828263 ",  
"lineLevelDetails": [  
{  
"lineId": "1",  
"lineStatusCode": "3"  
},  
{  
"lineId": "2",  
"lineStatusCode": "3"  
},  
{  
"lineId": "3",  
"lineStatusCode": "3",  
}  
],  
"shipment": [ {  
"shipmentId": "1",  
"shipmentStatusCode": "3",  
"shipmentStatusDesc": "",  
"deliveryStatus": "",  
"deliveryStatusTs": "",  
"deliveryTrackingNumber": "",  
"cartons":[ {  
"lineId": 1,  
"cartonNumber": 1234  
},{  
"lineId": 2,  
"cartonNumber": 4567

```
    }]
}, 
{
  "shipmentId": "2",
  "shipmentStatusCode": "4",
  "shipmentStatusDesc": "",
  "deliveryStatus": "",
  "deliveryStatusTs": "",
  "deliveryTrackingNumber": "",
  "lines":[ {
    "lineId": 3,
    "cartonNumber": 3333
    }]
  }, 
  }]

```

}

---

<div class="post-metadata">

**Author:** ![Christian\_Dahlqvist](https://sea2.discourse-cdn.com/elastic/user_avatar/discuss.elastic.co/christian_dahlqvist/32/4617_2.png) [@Christian\_Dahlqvist](https://discuss.elastic.co/u/Christian_Dahlqvist)\
**Post date:** [July 13, 2021, 3:26am UTC](https://discuss.elastic.co/t/data-redundancy-with-a-single-nested-level-vs-multilevel-nested-document/278471/2 "2021-07-13T03:26:32Z")

</div>

How many nested objects at different levels does an average document have in the two scenarios? What is the maximum size/number of nested objects? How frequently is some part of a document updated or added to?

---

<div class="post-metadata">

**Author:** ![sai\_Yeluri](https://sea2.discourse-cdn.com/elastic/user_avatar/discuss.elastic.co/sai_yeluri/32/90626_2.png) [@sai\_Yeluri](https://discuss.elastic.co/u/sai_Yeluri)\
**Post date:** [July 13, 2021, 1:57pm UTC](https://discuss.elastic.co/t/data-redundancy-with-a-single-nested-level-vs-multilevel-nested-document/278471/3 "2021-07-13T13:57:10Z")

</div>

1. How many nested objects at different levels does an average document have in the two scenarios?  
Scenario#1:  
lineleveldetails- array of 5 objects (contains shipment and carton information).

Scenario#2:  
lineleveldetails - array of 5 objects (doesn't contain shipment and carton information).  
shipments - array of 2 objects.  
cartons- (nested under shipments) array of 2 objects.

1. What is the maximum size/number of nested objects?  
Scenario#1:  
Number of nested objects is 1, only lineleveldetails.

Scenario#2:  
Number of nested objects is 3 with below structure.  
lineleveldetails  
shipments  
---cartons

1. How frequently is some part of a document updated or added to?  
**Between each update time duration can be several hours to days.**  
Scenario#1:  
lineleveldetails- 4 updates to linestatuscode and 4 updates to shipmentstatuscode. In shipmentstatuscode update scenario, we might update more than 1 more line object as shipment information is redundant across lines.

Scenario#2:  
lineleveldetails - 4 updates to linestatuscode .  
shipments - 4 updates to shipmentstatuscode.

---

<div class="post-metadata">

**Author:** ![sai\_Yeluri](https://sea2.discourse-cdn.com/elastic/user_avatar/discuss.elastic.co/sai_yeluri/32/90626_2.png) [@sai\_Yeluri](https://discuss.elastic.co/u/sai_Yeluri)\
**Post date:** [July 14, 2021, 11:17pm UTC](https://discuss.elastic.co/t/data-redundancy-with-a-single-nested-level-vs-multilevel-nested-document/278471/4 "2021-07-14T23:17:37Z")

</div>

@Christian_Dahlqvist ^^

---

<div class="post-metadata">

**Author:** ![Christian\_Dahlqvist](https://sea2.discourse-cdn.com/elastic/user_avatar/discuss.elastic.co/christian_dahlqvist/32/4617_2.png) [@Christian\_Dahlqvist](https://discuss.elastic.co/u/Christian_Dahlqvist)\
**Post date:** [July 15, 2021, 6:11am UTC](https://discuss.elastic.co/t/data-redundancy-with-a-single-nested-level-vs-multilevel-nested-document/278471/5 "2021-07-15T06:11:55Z")

</div>

If the number of nested objects is low and the documents are not frequently updated I suspect whichever structure that best supports your queries is the one to go with.

---

<div class="post-metadata">

**Author:** ![sai\_Yeluri](https://sea2.discourse-cdn.com/elastic/user_avatar/discuss.elastic.co/sai_yeluri/32/90626_2.png) [@sai\_Yeluri](https://discuss.elastic.co/u/sai_Yeluri)\
**Post date:** [July 15, 2021, 1:04pm UTC](https://discuss.elastic.co/t/data-redundancy-with-a-single-nested-level-vs-multilevel-nested-document/278471/6 "2021-07-15T13:04:10Z")

</div>

@Christian_Dahlqvist Thanks for your reply.

---

<div class="post-metadata">

**Author:** ![system](https://us1.discourse-cdn.com/elastic/original/3X/1/a/1ac57faf039f6b580b3f104ef42a2a89e41014de.png) [@system](https://discuss.elastic.co/u/system)\
**Post date:** [August 12, 2021, 1:05pm UTC](https://discuss.elastic.co/t/data-redundancy-with-a-single-nested-level-vs-multilevel-nested-document/278471/7 "2021-08-12T13:05:08Z")

</div>

This topic was automatically closed 28 days after the last reply. New replies are no longer allowed.