# Is there a limit as to how many documents a single index can have?

**URL:** <https://discuss.elastic.co/t/is-there-a-limit-as-to-how-many-documents-a-single-index-can-have/93485>\
**Category:** Elasticsearch\
**Created:** [July 18, 2017, 1:42am UTC](https://discuss.elastic.co/t/is-there-a-limit-as-to-how-many-documents-a-single-index-can-have/93485 "2017-07-18T01:42:08Z")\
**Posts on this page:** 4\
**Page:** 1

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**Author:** ![patrickian](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/c57346/32.png) [@patrickian](https://discuss.elastic.co/u/patrickian)\
**Post date:** [July 18, 2017, 1:42am UTC](https://discuss.elastic.co/t/is-there-a-limit-as-to-how-many-documents-a-single-index-can-have/93485/1 "2017-07-18T01:42:08Z")

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I'm new to Elasticsearch and I'm wondering as to how many documents I can have in a single index. I'm looking to have around 60-120 million documents of a single type in a single index. Are the documents stored in the disk?

While we're at it, as per what I've read in the documentation, I should not allocate more than 1/4 of my RAM to Elasticsearch. When does Elasticsearch use the RAM? While querying? If so, would having 2-3 nodes in the same cluster help during memory intensive processes?

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**Author:** ![warkolm](https://sea2.discourse-cdn.com/elastic/user_avatar/discuss.elastic.co/warkolm/32/39224_2.png) [@warkolm](https://discuss.elastic.co/u/warkolm)\
**Post date:** [July 18, 2017, 3:05am UTC](https://discuss.elastic.co/t/is-there-a-limit-as-to-how-many-documents-a-single-index-can-have/93485/2 "2017-07-18T03:05:30Z")

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> [@patrickian](#):
>
> I'm wondering as to how many documents I can have in a single index

Two billion.

> [@patrickian](#):
>
> Are the documents stored in the disk?

Yes.

> [@patrickian](#):
>
> I should not allocate more than 1/4 of my RAM to Elasticsearch

1/2, yes.

> [@patrickian](#):
>
> When does Elasticsearch use the RAM?

It's a JVM process, so pretty much as soon as you start it.

> [@patrickian](#):
>
> would having 2-3 nodes in the same cluster help during memory intensive processes?

Yes definitely.

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**Author:** ![patrickian](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/c57346/32.png) [@patrickian](https://discuss.elastic.co/u/patrickian)\
**Post date:** [July 18, 2017, 3:13am UTC](https://discuss.elastic.co/t/is-there-a-limit-as-to-how-many-documents-a-single-index-can-have/93485/3 "2017-07-18T03:13:12Z")

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Many thanks for your response.

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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:** [August 15, 2017, 3:13am UTC](https://discuss.elastic.co/t/is-there-a-limit-as-to-how-many-documents-a-single-index-can-have/93485/4 "2017-08-15T03:13:17Z")

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