# Elasticsearch cluster uneven distribution of data
**URL:** https://discuss.elastic.co/t/elasticsearch-cluster-uneven-distribution-of-data/247737
**Category:** Elasticsearch
**Created:** [September 7, 2020, 9:06am UTC](https://discuss.elastic.co/t/elasticsearch-cluster-uneven-distribution-of-data/247737 "2020-09-07T09:06:46Z")
**Posts on this page:** 7
**Page:** 1
### Author:  [@d.silwon](https://discuss.elastic.co/u/d.silwon)
#### Post date: [September 7, 2020, 9:06am UTC](https://discuss.elastic.co/t/elasticsearch-cluster-uneven-distribution-of-data/247737/1 "2020-09-07T09:06:46Z")
Dears,
How to explain uneven distribution of data between cluster nodes?
```auto
GET _cat/allocation?v&pretty
shards disk.indices disk.used disk.avail disk.total disk.percent host ip node
63 375gb 375.3gb 648.1gb 1023.4gb 36 10.100.10.13 10.100.10.13 elastic_03
64 343.1gb 343.9gb 679.5gb 1023.4gb 33 10.100.10.12 10.100.10.12 elastic_02
63 268.5gb 269.2gb 754.2gb 1023.4gb 26 10.100.10.11 10.100.10.11 elastic_01
```
Each nodes have 1TB for data.
Any idea?
Best Regards,
Dan
---
### Author:  [@d.silwon](https://discuss.elastic.co/u/d.silwon)
#### Post date: [September 7, 2020, 10:20am UTC](https://discuss.elastic.co/t/elasticsearch-cluster-uneven-distribution-of-data/247737/2 "2020-09-07T10:20:17Z")
I did some deeper annalise and I guess/suppose that this cluster is optimized for number of shares instead of disk usage. Is there any simple way to change it?
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### Author:  [@Steve\_Mushero](https://discuss.elastic.co/u/Steve_Mushero)
#### Post date: [September 7, 2020, 10:25am UTC](https://discuss.elastic.co/t/elasticsearch-cluster-uneven-distribution-of-data/247737/3 "2020-09-07T10:25:31Z")
It balances based on shard count and there is no way to change it ☹
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### Author:  [@d.silwon](https://discuss.elastic.co/u/d.silwon)
#### Post date: [September 7, 2020, 10:35am UTC](https://discuss.elastic.co/t/elasticsearch-cluster-uneven-distribution-of-data/247737/4 "2020-09-07T10:35:30Z")
> [@Steve\_Mushero](#):
>
> It balances based on shard count and there is no way to change it
Steve,
Do I good understand you? Is this only one way " balances based on shard" and no other option?
Thanks
d
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### Author:  [@DavidTurner](https://discuss.elastic.co/u/DavidTurner)
#### Post date: [September 7, 2020, 1:00pm UTC](https://discuss.elastic.co/t/elasticsearch-cluster-uneven-distribution-of-data/247737/5 "2020-09-07T13:00:27Z")
That's correct, and this is deliberate. Balancing by size is expensive and unnecessary. All your nodes have ample free space, so why does anything need to be done differently?
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### Author:  [@d.silwon](https://discuss.elastic.co/u/d.silwon)
#### Post date: [September 7, 2020, 1:11pm UTC](https://discuss.elastic.co/t/elasticsearch-cluster-uneven-distribution-of-data/247737/6 "2020-09-07T13:11:09Z")
OK, I understand. Thanks a lot.
---
### Author:  [@system](https://discuss.elastic.co/u/system)
#### Post date: [October 5, 2020, 1:11pm UTC](https://discuss.elastic.co/t/elasticsearch-cluster-uneven-distribution-of-data/247737/7 "2020-10-05T13:11:18Z")
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