# ES as a primary database **URL:** \ **Category:** Elasticsearch\ **Created:** [November 17, 2014, 12:32pm UTC](https://discuss.elastic.co/t/es-as-a-primary-database/20785 "2014-11-17T12:32:14Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 4\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Yann\_Barraud](https://sea2.discourse-cdn.com/elastic/user_avatar/discuss.elastic.co/yann_barraud/32/1108_2.png) [@Yann\_Barraud](https://discuss.elastic.co/u/Yann_Barraud)\ **Post date:** [November 17, 2014, 12:32pm UTC](https://discuss.elastic.co/t/es-as-a-primary-database/20785/1 "2014-11-17T12:32:14Z")
Hi, I've been speaking recently with various persons about using Es as a primary database. Here are the main blockers I heard of : - problems with data corruption. Is it still real for 1.4 version ? - data not being available immediately (because of indexing, which is normal) Do you have further insights about this topic ? Cheers, Yann -- 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 [elasticsearch+unsubscribe@googlegroups.com](mailto:elasticsearch+unsubscribe@googlegroups.com). To view this discussion on the web visit [https://groups.google.com/d/msgid/elasticsearch/98c67f8f-a925-4723-8a71-6bdc764e4972%40googlegroups.com](https://groups.google.com/d/msgid/elasticsearch/98c67f8f-a925-4723-8a71-6bdc764e4972%40googlegroups.com). For more options, visit [https://groups.google.com/d/optout](https://groups.google.com/d/optout). ---
**Author:** ![lasseschou](https://sea2.discourse-cdn.com/elastic/user_avatar/discuss.elastic.co/lasseschou/32/845_2.png) [@lasseschou](https://discuss.elastic.co/u/lasseschou)\ **Post date:** [November 18, 2014, 12:24pm UTC](https://discuss.elastic.co/t/es-as-a-primary-database/20785/2 "2014-11-18T12:24:04Z")
You should definitely consider using ES as a primary data source, but as with any database, make sure to: - Replicate data across your cluster - Take daily snapshots and store them on another machine / data center. - Monitor your cluster Regarding the point about data not being available immediately, it's not quite true. You can control the write consistency so that you're sure that the data is actually persisted on the number of nodes you want and available thorugh the Get API. The indexing happens asynchronously, but the data is there immediately. Elasticsearch has (previously) had issues with index corruption, especially caused by OOM errors and split brain. You should make sure to set minimum\_master\_nodes to a reasonable value to avoid split-brain, and you should use the latest ES version where a circuit breaker has been introduced to avoid OOM errors. Also read the blog posts from people who advice against using ES as a primary data source, such as this guy, to make a better decision: [http://igor.kupczynski.info/2014/06/26/elastic-cap.html](http://igor.kupczynski.info/2014/06/26/elastic-cap.html) Lasse On Monday, November 17, 2014 1:32:14 PM UTC+1, Yann Barraud wrote: > Hi, > > I've been speaking recently with various persons about using Es as a > primary database. Here are the main blockers I heard of : > > - problems with data corruption. Is it still real for 1.4 version ? > > - data not being available immediately (because of indexing, which is > normal) > > Do you have further insights about this topic ? > > Cheers, > Yann -- 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 [elasticsearch+unsubscribe@googlegroups.com](mailto:elasticsearch+unsubscribe@googlegroups.com). To view this discussion on the web visit [https://groups.google.com/d/msgid/elasticsearch/390def63-33e9-4b6c-ad34-c6943f59d012%40googlegroups.com](https://groups.google.com/d/msgid/elasticsearch/390def63-33e9-4b6c-ad34-c6943f59d012%40googlegroups.com). For more options, visit [https://groups.google.com/d/optout](https://groups.google.com/d/optout). ---
**Author:** ![Jurgen\_Wagner\_DVT](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/e0b2c6/32.png) [@Jurgen\_Wagner\_DVT](https://discuss.elastic.co/u/Jurgen_Wagner_DVT)\ **Post date:** [November 18, 2014, 12:33pm UTC](https://discuss.elastic.co/t/es-as-a-primary-database/20785/3 "2014-11-18T12:33:41Z")
Hello Yann, I would advise against using Elasticsearch or SolrCloud as the primary data repository for not just the reasons you give. However, there are simple, replicated data repositories out there (e.g., Apache Cassandra) that fit nicely with replication requirements and can index documents fed into the search platform based on some id. Think of the search platform as a pretty fast read cache and retrieval engine for your actual database. If you combine this approach with not storing the entire data in the search core, but only select meta data you need for retrieval, this becomes also quite storage-efficient. Search is made for retrieval. Databases are made for persistence of data. Best regards, --Jürgen On Monday, November 17, 2014 1:32:14 PM UTC+1, Yann Barraud wrote: ``` Hi, I've been speaking recently with various persons about using Es as a primary database. Here are the main blockers I heard of : * problems with data corruption. Is it still real for 1.4 version ? * data not being available immediately (because of indexing, which is normal) Do you have further insights about this topic ? Cheers, Yann ``` -- Mit freundlichen Grüßen/Kind regards/Cordialement vôtre/Atentamente/С уважением _i.A. Jürgen Wagner_ Head of Competence Center "Intelligence" & Senior Cloud Consultant Devoteam GmbH, Industriestr. 3, 70565 Stuttgart, Germany Phone: +49 6151 868-8725, Fax: +49 711 13353-53, Mobile: +49 171 864 1543 E-Mail: [juergen.wagner@devoteam.com](mailto:juergen.wagner@devoteam.com) [mailto:juergen.wagner@devoteam.com](mailto:juergen.wagner@devoteam.com), URL: www.devoteam.de [http://www.devoteam.de/](http://www.devoteam.de/) * * * Managing Board: Jürgen Hatzipantelis (CEO) Address of Record: 64331 Weiterstadt, Germany; Commercial Register: Amtsgericht Darmstadt HRB 6450; Tax Number: DE 172 993 071 -- 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 [elasticsearch+unsubscribe@googlegroups.com](mailto:elasticsearch+unsubscribe@googlegroups.com). To view this discussion on the web visit [https://groups.google.com/d/msgid/elasticsearch/546B3CA5.9030700%40devoteam.com](https://groups.google.com/d/msgid/elasticsearch/546B3CA5.9030700%40devoteam.com). For more options, visit [https://groups.google.com/d/optout](https://groups.google.com/d/optout). ---
**Author:** ![system](https://us1.discourse-cdn.com/elastic/original/3X/1/a/1ac57faf039f6b580b3f104ef42a2a89e41014de.png) [@system](https://discuss.elastic.co/u/system)\ **Post date:** [July 6, 2017, 12:49am UTC](https://discuss.elastic.co/t/es-as-a-primary-database/20785/4 "2017-07-06T00:49:15Z")