# How much free space in the disk is needed for elasticsearch?

**URL:** <https://discuss.elastic.co/t/how-much-free-space-in-the-disk-is-needed-for-elasticsearch/9176>\
**Category:** Elasticsearch\
**Created:** [September 27, 2012, 9:11pm UTC](https://discuss.elastic.co/t/how-much-free-space-in-the-disk-is-needed-for-elasticsearch/9176 "2012-09-27T21:11:38Z")\
**Posts on this page:** 2\
**Page:** 1

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**Author:** ![Jae](https://sea2.discourse-cdn.com/elastic/user_avatar/discuss.elastic.co/jae/32/791_2.png) [@Jae](https://discuss.elastic.co/u/Jae)\
**Post date:** [September 27, 2012, 9:11pm UTC](https://discuss.elastic.co/t/how-much-free-space-in-the-disk-is-needed-for-elasticsearch/9176/1 "2012-09-27T21:11:38Z")

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Hi

I am using elasticsearch 0.19.9 for our log realtime analytics. I should  
set up log retention period according to the disk usage in the  
elasticsearch cluster but how much free space is needed by the percentage?

The reason why I am asking this question is, for cassandra, we need to  
leave 50% free disk space for index compaction. Is this necessary for  
elasticsearch too? Otherwise, can I keep index until the disk is full by  
90%?

Thank you  
Best, Jae

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**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, 3:11am UTC](https://discuss.elastic.co/t/how-much-free-space-in-the-disk-is-needed-for-elasticsearch/9176/2 "2017-07-06T03:11:05Z")

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Closed on July 6, 2017, 3:11am UTC