# Max data that can be stored based on memory configured **URL:** \ **Category:** Elasticsearch\ **Created:** [October 12, 2020, 10:59am UTC](https://discuss.elastic.co/t/max-data-that-can-be-stored-based-on-memory-configured/251752 "2020-10-12T10:59:12Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 8\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![mrudrego](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/898d66/32.png) [@mrudrego](https://discuss.elastic.co/u/mrudrego)\ **Post date:** [October 12, 2020, 10:59am UTC](https://discuss.elastic.co/t/max-data-that-can-be-stored-based-on-memory-configured/251752/1 "2020-10-12T10:59:12Z")
Hi, I was going through the blog which talks about shards in a cluster [https://www.elastic.co/blog/how-many-shards-should-i-have-in-my-elasticsearch-cluster](https://www.elastic.co/blog/how-many-shards-should-i-have-in-my-elasticsearch-cluster) In one of their tips they say " _A good rule-of-thumb is to ensure you keep the number of shards per node below 20 per GB heap it has configured. A node with a 30GB heap should therefore have a maximum of 600 shards, but the further below this limit you can keep it the better._" So even if i assume the average size of a shards is 20GB . Can a node with 30GB heap can store 600(shards) x 20GB = 12 TB data without issues ? Please help me understand this. Thanks, ---
**Author:** ![Christian\_Dahlqvist](https://sea2.discourse-cdn.com/elastic/user_avatar/discuss.elastic.co/christian_dahlqvist/32/4617_2.png) [@Christian\_Dahlqvist](https://discuss.elastic.co/u/Christian_Dahlqvist)\ **Post date:** [October 12, 2020, 11:36am UTC](https://discuss.elastic.co/t/max-data-that-can-be-stored-based-on-memory-configured/251752/2 "2020-10-12T11:36:30Z")
A node may hold more or less than that depending on the data, mappings and workload. These are all rough guidelines around best practices, and I created this blog post as I saw a lot of users ending up in serious trouble due to having large volumes of small shards, which for many use cases is very inefficient. ---
**Author:** ![mrudrego](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/898d66/32.png) [@mrudrego](https://discuss.elastic.co/u/mrudrego)\ **Post date:** [October 14, 2020, 10:32am UTC](https://discuss.elastic.co/t/max-data-that-can-be-stored-based-on-memory-configured/251752/3 "2020-10-14T10:32:48Z")
Thanks for the reply. I was looking for dimensioning guidance for setting up a Elasticsearch Cluster( no of nodes, memory, disk etc) for say x no of indices created with size yGB, retention period of indices etc. So any guidance on that would be very helpful. Thanks & Regards, ---
**Author:** ![Christian\_Dahlqvist](https://sea2.discourse-cdn.com/elastic/user_avatar/discuss.elastic.co/christian_dahlqvist/32/4617_2.png) [@Christian\_Dahlqvist](https://discuss.elastic.co/u/Christian_Dahlqvist)\ **Post date:** [October 14, 2020, 11:48am UTC](https://discuss.elastic.co/t/max-data-that-can-be-stored-based-on-memory-configured/251752/4 "2020-10-14T11:48:45Z")
It will depend on the use case, but assuming logs and/or metrics the following resources may help: > **[Sizing Hot-Warm Architectures for Logging and Metrics in the Elasticsearch...](https://www.elastic.co/blog/sizing-hot-warm-architectures-for-logging-and-metrics-in-the-elasticsearch-service-on-elastic-cloud)** > **[Quantitative Cluster Sizing](https://www.elastic.co/webinars/elasticsearch-sizing-and-capacity-planning)** > > This webinar covers the capacity planning frameworks, methodologies, and best practices used by the solutions architects at Elastic. You will learn how to estimate the architecture requirements for typical Elasticsearch use cases. > **[Optimizing Storage Efficiency in Elasticsearch](https://www.elastic.co/webinars/optimizing-storage-efficiency-in-elasticsearch)** > > This video covers the different types of nodes we use in Hot/Warm/Cold architectures and discuss their characteristics and the factors that determine how much data each node type can hold and how you go about optimizing for this. ---
**Author:** ![mrudrego](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/898d66/32.png) [@mrudrego](https://discuss.elastic.co/u/mrudrego)\ **Post date:** [October 16, 2020, 7:22am UTC](https://discuss.elastic.co/t/max-data-that-can-be-stored-based-on-memory-configured/251752/5 "2020-10-16T07:22:21Z")
Thank you very much 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![mrudrego](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/898d66/32.png) [@mrudrego](https://discuss.elastic.co/u/mrudrego)\ **Post date:** [October 20, 2020, 6:54am UTC](https://discuss.elastic.co/t/max-data-that-can-be-stored-based-on-memory-configured/251752/6 "2020-10-20T06:54:01Z")
Hi, i have a small clarification. In the link [https://www.elastic.co/blog/sizing-hot-warm-architectures-for-logging-and-metrics-in-the-elasticsearch-service-on-elastic-cloud](https://www.elastic.co/blog/sizing-hot-warm-architectures-for-logging-and-metrics-in-the-elasticsearch-service-on-elastic-cloud) , the Disk:RAM ratio is 30:1 while the webinar on Quantitative Cluster Sizing suggests the ratio as 16:1. Is this difference because of the version of ES used or is there anything else. Thanks, ---
**Author:** ![Christian\_Dahlqvist](https://sea2.discourse-cdn.com/elastic/user_avatar/discuss.elastic.co/christian_dahlqvist/32/4617_2.png) [@Christian\_Dahlqvist](https://discuss.elastic.co/u/Christian_Dahlqvist)\ **Post date:** [October 20, 2020, 6:57am UTC](https://discuss.elastic.co/t/max-data-that-can-be-stored-based-on-memory-configured/251752/7 "2020-10-20T06:57:15Z")
This will depend a lot on the use case and how much you index per day compared to the retention period on the nodes. The webinar is quite old and that also plays a part to some extent. ---
**Author:** ![system](https://us1.discourse-cdn.com/elastic/original/3X/1/a/1ac57faf039f6b580b3f104ef42a2a89e41014de.png) [@system](https://discuss.elastic.co/u/system)\ **Post date:** [November 17, 2020, 6:57am UTC](https://discuss.elastic.co/t/max-data-that-can-be-stored-based-on-memory-configured/251752/8 "2020-11-17T06:57:23Z")
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