# External versioning (external or external\_gte) **URL:** \ **Category:** Elasticsearch\ **Created:** [November 3, 2017, 9:02am UTC](https://discuss.elastic.co/t/external-versioning-external-or-external-gte/106289 "2017-11-03T09:02:57Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 1\ **Showing post:** 2
**Author:** ![mirek](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/8c91f0/32.png) [@mirek](https://discuss.elastic.co/u/mirek)\ **Post date:** [November 9, 2017, 9:23pm UTC](https://discuss.elastic.co/t/external-versioning-external-or-external-gte/106289/2 "2017-11-09T21:23:42Z")
It seems that this question was asked (but not answered) some time ago as well > [@Why does the external\_gte version type need to be used with care?](https://discuss.elastic.co/t/why-does-the-external-gte-version-type-need-to-be-used-with-care/60445): > > The [documentation for the index API](https://www.elastic.co/guide/en/elasticsearch/reference/current/docs-index_.html#_version_types) says this about the external\_gte version type: NOTE: The external\_gte & force version types are meant for special use cases and should be used with care. If used incorrectly, they can result in loss of data. What is the reason that the external\_gte version types needs to be used with care? What type of care needs to be used? How can the external\_gte version type result in data loss? Is the issue that a failure of the external system to properly update the… In our case we have database where every entity is versioned. Can we use this entity version number with external\_gte? It's seams that using external\_gte would work for us because we can easily "Reindex" entire database when we suspect it got out of sync with ES index. Do you think we miss something in our understanding? Mirek --- _[View the full topic](https://discuss.elastic.co/t/external-versioning-external-or-external-gte/106289)._