# Maximum number of indices per machine **URL:** \ **Category:** Elasticsearch\ **Created:** [March 3, 2014, 8:47am UTC](https://discuss.elastic.co/t/maximum-number-of-indices-per-machine/16099 "2014-03-03T08:47:23Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 6\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![adam\_porat](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/e56c9b/32.png) [@adam\_porat](https://discuss.elastic.co/u/adam_porat)\ **Post date:** [March 3, 2014, 8:47am UTC](https://discuss.elastic.co/t/maximum-number-of-indices-per-machine/16099/1 "2014-03-03T08:47:23Z")
Hi, ``` How many *indices per machine* (roughly) can ElasticSearch handle ``` smoothly? Let's say average # of documents per index is 20 thousand, and the machine is a powerful server. Thank you. -- 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/c75e845a-9c95-498f-ba8e-9fe31320ad8b%40googlegroups.com](https://groups.google.com/d/msgid/elasticsearch/c75e845a-9c95-498f-ba8e-9fe31320ad8b%40googlegroups.com). For more options, visit [https://groups.google.com/groups/opt\_out](https://groups.google.com/groups/opt_out). ---
**Author:** ![jprante](https://sea2.discourse-cdn.com/elastic/user_avatar/discuss.elastic.co/jprante/32/44941_2.png) [@jprante](https://discuss.elastic.co/u/jprante)\ **Post date:** [March 3, 2014, 8:50am UTC](https://discuss.elastic.co/t/maximum-number-of-indices-per-machine/16099/2 "2014-03-03T08:50:01Z")
Can you be more specific about the definition of a "powerful" server? Note, there are also different numbers for different workloads (just indexing few docs per sec, bulk indexing, just a few searches per sec, huge search load etc) so it really depends. Jörg On Mon, Mar 3, 2014 at 9:47 AM, Adam Porat [adam.porat@gmail.com](mailto:adam.porat@gmail.com) wrote: > Hi, > > ``` > How many *indices per machine* (roughly) can ElasticSearch handle > > ``` > > smoothly? Let's say average # of documents per index is 20 thousand, and > the machine is a powerful server. > > Thank you. > > -- > 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/c75e845a-9c95-498f-ba8e-9fe31320ad8b%40googlegroups.com](https://groups.google.com/d/msgid/elasticsearch/c75e845a-9c95-498f-ba8e-9fe31320ad8b%40googlegroups.com) > . > For more options, visit [https://groups.google.com/groups/opt\_out](https://groups.google.com/groups/opt_out). -- 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/CAKdsXoE\_w45nvNG3rGG3NtjS2uw41wcyOTwvtqtSHmz5vfV%2BdA%40mail.gmail.com](https://groups.google.com/d/msgid/elasticsearch/CAKdsXoE_w45nvNG3rGG3NtjS2uw41wcyOTwvtqtSHmz5vfV%2BdA%40mail.gmail.com). For more options, visit [https://groups.google.com/groups/opt\_out](https://groups.google.com/groups/opt_out). ---
**Author:** ![Itamar\_Syn\_Hershko](https://sea2.discourse-cdn.com/elastic/user_avatar/discuss.elastic.co/itamar_syn_hershko/32/725_2.png) [@Itamar\_Syn\_Hershko](https://discuss.elastic.co/u/Itamar_Syn_Hershko)\ **Post date:** [March 3, 2014, 10:21am UTC](https://discuss.elastic.co/t/maximum-number-of-indices-per-machine/16099/3 "2014-03-03T10:21:59Z")
Joerg, I think what Adam means is how many open indexes an ES instance can hold before lagging or crashing (assuming max open files is set correctly etc). Small indexes usually mean less segments per index, so the question may boil down mostly to number of open IR/IW? -- Itamar Syn-Hershko [http://code972.com](http://code972.com) | @synhershko [https://twitter.com/synhershko](https://twitter.com/synhershko) Freelance Developer & Consultant Author of RavenDB in Action [http://manning.com/synhershko/](http://manning.com/synhershko/) On Mon, Mar 3, 2014 at 10:50 AM, [joergprante@gmail.com](mailto:joergprante@gmail.com) \< [joergprante@gmail.com](mailto:joergprante@gmail.com)\> wrote: > Can you be more specific about the definition of a "powerful" server? > > Note, there are also different numbers for different workloads (just > indexing few docs per sec, bulk indexing, just a few searches per sec, huge > search load etc) so it really depends. > > Jörg > > On Mon, Mar 3, 2014 at 9:47 AM, Adam Porat [adam.porat@gmail.com](mailto:adam.porat@gmail.com) wrote: > > > Hi, > > > > ``` > > How many *indices per machine* (roughly) can ElasticSearch handle > > > > ``` > > > > smoothly? Let's say average # of documents per index is 20 thousand, and > > the machine is a powerful server. > > > > Thank you. > > > > -- > > 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/c75e845a-9c95-498f-ba8e-9fe31320ad8b%40googlegroups.com](https://groups.google.com/d/msgid/elasticsearch/c75e845a-9c95-498f-ba8e-9fe31320ad8b%40googlegroups.com) > > . > > For more options, visit [https://groups.google.com/groups/opt\_out](https://groups.google.com/groups/opt_out). > > -- > 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/CAKdsXoE\_w45nvNG3rGG3NtjS2uw41wcyOTwvtqtSHmz5vfV%2BdA%40mail.gmail.com](https://groups.google.com/d/msgid/elasticsearch/CAKdsXoE_w45nvNG3rGG3NtjS2uw41wcyOTwvtqtSHmz5vfV%2BdA%40mail.gmail.com) > . > > For more options, visit [https://groups.google.com/groups/opt\_out](https://groups.google.com/groups/opt_out). -- 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/CAHTr4ZvKtLYz%2B\_799y8Lqs9SbMJ7jbsftoyS783f308ibj-%2B1w%40mail.gmail.com](https://groups.google.com/d/msgid/elasticsearch/CAHTr4ZvKtLYz%2B_799y8Lqs9SbMJ7jbsftoyS783f308ibj-%2B1w%40mail.gmail.com). For more options, visit [https://groups.google.com/groups/opt\_out](https://groups.google.com/groups/opt_out). ---
**Author:** ![jprante](https://sea2.discourse-cdn.com/elastic/user_avatar/discuss.elastic.co/jprante/32/44941_2.png) [@jprante](https://discuss.elastic.co/u/jprante)\ **Post date:** [March 3, 2014, 5:04pm UTC](https://discuss.elastic.co/t/maximum-number-of-indices-per-machine/16099/4 "2014-03-03T17:04:22Z")
Sure, you can create hundreds of thousands of indices, without docs, or with just one doc. Closing an index even frees the resources of the index management. This is not useful, just an edge case. I'm afraid this is not the answer to the question. The number of open indices (shards) is limited by disk space and maximum number of file descriptors. But that is also theoretical. Using all indices at once will use more resources than file descriptors. It depends on the index / query characteristics (RAM for shards, fields, term count, term distribution etc.) That is not directly related to "powerful" servers. Even the weakest server can _create_ as much indices as the strongest one. Putting workload on indices is a different story. Jörg On Mon, Mar 3, 2014 at 11:21 AM, Itamar Syn-Hershko [itamar@code972.com](mailto:itamar@code972.com)wrote: > Joerg, I think what Adam means is how many open indexes an ES instance can > hold before lagging or crashing (assuming max open files is set correctly > etc). > > Small indexes usually mean less segments per index, so the question may > boil down mostly to number of open IR/IW? -- 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/CAKdsXoE306tG3yRkCZkFTBmKRXmEWcOHyz3m9TgyT5Cmh03GwA%40mail.gmail.com](https://groups.google.com/d/msgid/elasticsearch/CAKdsXoE306tG3yRkCZkFTBmKRXmEWcOHyz3m9TgyT5Cmh03GwA%40mail.gmail.com). For more options, visit [https://groups.google.com/groups/opt\_out](https://groups.google.com/groups/opt_out). ---
**Author:** ![adam\_porat](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/e56c9b/32.png) [@adam\_porat](https://discuss.elastic.co/u/adam_porat)\ **Post date:** [March 11, 2014, 10:00am UTC](https://discuss.elastic.co/t/maximum-number-of-indices-per-machine/16099/5 "2014-03-11T10:00:59Z")
Hi Joerg & Itamar, Thanks for your reply. What I am trying to get is an order of magnitue. Suppose a server has 20GB RAM. Each index has about 20K documents, each document is about 500 words, average term distribution. The question is whether the server would be able to smoothly handle tenths, hundreds, or thousands (or more?) of open indices. Suppose each index gets about 10 new documents per minute, and serves about 30 queries per minute. Thank you! בתאריך יום שני, 3 במרץ 2014 19:04:22 UTC+2, מאת Jörg Prante: > Sure, you can create hundreds of thousands of indices, without docs, or > with just one doc. Closing an index even frees the resources of the index > management. This is not useful, just an edge case. > > I'm afraid this is not the answer to the question. > > The number of open indices (shards) is limited by disk space and maximum > number of file descriptors. But that is also theoretical. Using all indices > at once will use more resources than file descriptors. It depends on the > index / query characteristics (RAM for shards, fields, term count, term > distribution etc.) That is not directly related to "powerful" servers. Even > the weakest server can _create_ as much indices as the strongest one. > Putting workload on indices is a different story. > > Jörg > > On Mon, Mar 3, 2014 at 11:21 AM, Itamar Syn-Hershko \<[ita...@code972.com](mailto:ita...@code972.com)\ > > > wrote: > > > Joerg, I think what Adam means is how many open indexes an ES instance > > can hold before lagging or crashing (assuming max open files is set > > correctly etc). > > > > Small indexes usually mean less segments per index, so the question may > > boil down mostly to number of open IR/IW? -- 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/46fb6eed-ef7d-4fb1-93e7-020b0218c063%40googlegroups.com](https://groups.google.com/d/msgid/elasticsearch/46fb6eed-ef7d-4fb1-93e7-020b0218c063%40googlegroups.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, 1:44am UTC](https://discuss.elastic.co/t/maximum-number-of-indices-per-machine/16099/6 "2017-07-06T01:44:20Z")
Closed on July 6, 2017, 1:44am UTC