# Multiple Indices vs Multiple Shards **URL:** \ **Category:** Elasticsearch\ **Created:** [August 21, 2014, 8:34am UTC](https://discuss.elastic.co/t/multiple-indices-vs-multiple-shards/19385 "2014-08-21T08:34:06Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 3\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![ElasticSearch\_Users\_](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/b4bc9f/32.png) [@ElasticSearch\_Users\_](https://discuss.elastic.co/u/ElasticSearch_Users_)\ **Post date:** [August 21, 2014, 8:34am UTC](https://discuss.elastic.co/t/multiple-indices-vs-multiple-shards/19385/1 "2014-08-21T08:34:06Z")
Hi, What is the difference in performance or additional load on ElasticSearch if I define an index with 50 shards or I define 50 indices with one shard. I mean, technically, there are blogs that suggest that these are equivalent? Of course without the shard rebalancing, replica, failover, etc. But, performance-wise, if I am to do 50 indices with one shard, and aggregate results from all 50, will I see a degradation in performance compared to 1 index with 50 shards? Thanks, Sandeep -- 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/e3c4bba7-6de8-41af-9022-12ea31cef63a%40googlegroups.com](https://groups.google.com/d/msgid/elasticsearch/e3c4bba7-6de8-41af-9022-12ea31cef63a%40googlegroups.com). For more options, visit [https://groups.google.com/d/optout](https://groups.google.com/d/optout). ---
**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:** [August 21, 2014, 9:02am UTC](https://discuss.elastic.co/t/multiple-indices-vs-multiple-shards/19385/2 "2014-08-21T09:02:29Z")
Very little as you have found. But you might find aggregating will take a fair bit of resources. Regards, Mark Walkom Infrastructure Engineer Campaign Monitor email: [markw@campaignmonitor.com](mailto:markw@campaignmonitor.com) web: [www.campaignmonitor.com](http://www.campaignmonitor.com) On 21 August 2014 18:34, 'Sandeep Ramesh Khanzode' via elasticsearch \< [elasticsearch@googlegroups.com](mailto:elasticsearch@googlegroups.com)\> wrote: > Hi, > > What is the difference in performance or additional load on Elasticsearch > if I define an index with 50 shards or I define 50 indices with one shard. > > I mean, technically, there are blogs that suggest that these are > equivalent? Of course without the shard rebalancing, replica, failover, etc. > > But, performance-wise, if I am to do 50 indices with one shard, and > aggregate results from all 50, will I see a degradation in performance > compared to 1 index with 50 shards? > > Thanks, > Sandeep > > -- > 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/e3c4bba7-6de8-41af-9022-12ea31cef63a%40googlegroups.com](https://groups.google.com/d/msgid/elasticsearch/e3c4bba7-6de8-41af-9022-12ea31cef63a%40googlegroups.com) > [https://groups.google.com/d/msgid/elasticsearch/e3c4bba7-6de8-41af-9022-12ea31cef63a%40googlegroups.com?utm\_medium=email&utm\_source=footer](https://groups.google.com/d/msgid/elasticsearch/e3c4bba7-6de8-41af-9022-12ea31cef63a%40googlegroups.com?utm_medium=email&utm_source=footer) > . > For more options, visit [https://groups.google.com/d/optout](https://groups.google.com/d/optout). -- 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/CAEM624YrUojVadJHEDWRuyCggzq\_5zKn1P8R5gc-7qi-0JEY3Q%40mail.gmail.com](https://groups.google.com/d/msgid/elasticsearch/CAEM624YrUojVadJHEDWRuyCggzq_5zKn1P8R5gc-7qi-0JEY3Q%40mail.gmail.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, 1:07am UTC](https://discuss.elastic.co/t/multiple-indices-vs-multiple-shards/19385/3 "2017-07-06T01:07:16Z")