# Multiple Logstash instances vs Filebeats - Architecture **URL:** \ **Category:** Logstash\ **Created:** [July 25, 2017, 7:43am UTC](https://discuss.elastic.co/t/multiple-logstash-instances-vs-filebeats-architecture/94437 "2017-07-25T07:43:26Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 3\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![DougMcDonald](https://sea2.discourse-cdn.com/elastic/user_avatar/discuss.elastic.co/dougmcdonald/32/20403_2.png) [@DougMcDonald](https://discuss.elastic.co/u/DougMcDonald)\ **Post date:** [July 25, 2017, 7:43am UTC](https://discuss.elastic.co/t/multiple-logstash-instances-vs-filebeats-architecture/94437/1 "2017-07-25T07:43:26Z")
I'm trying to establish the best architecture for our elastic stack implementation. We have two distinct networks (lets call them internal and external) and several web / db / application servers (approx 10) on each of these networks. I would like to consume IIS logs, our rabbitMQ messages and some other bits and bobs from machines in both networks and send them to a single server on the internal network where my elastic and kibana installation are located. For the servers on both the internal and external networks I can see two main ways to get the logs sent to elastic. #1 - Setup logstash on each server and send the output to the elastic server on the internal network. #2 - Setup filebeats on each server and send the logs to a single server running logstash (this could be the same box that hosts elastic and kibana) I'm unsure of the pros and cons of these approaches at the moment. I believe the correct approach is to use Filebeats, but I'm unaware why I wouldn't just put logstash in multiple places as it seems like I would be better distributing the processing of logs. Then again, perhaps having one logstash with 20-30 inputs isn't a problem? Interested in any thoughts or guidance in this area. ---
**Author:** ![magnusbaeck](https://sea2.discourse-cdn.com/elastic/user_avatar/discuss.elastic.co/magnusbaeck/32/44943_2.png) [@magnusbaeck](https://discuss.elastic.co/u/magnusbaeck)\ **Post date:** [July 25, 2017, 8:54pm UTC](https://discuss.elastic.co/t/multiple-logstash-instances-vs-filebeats-architecture/94437/2 "2017-07-25T20:54:39Z")
I prefer running low-overhead Filebeat instances on edge servers so that they can just offload logs elsewhere as quickly and non-intrusively as possible. > Then again, perhaps having one logstash with 20-30 inputs isn't a problem? That's indeed not a problem, but why would you need to have 20-30 inputs? ---
**Author:** ![system](https://us1.discourse-cdn.com/elastic/original/3X/1/a/1ac57faf039f6b580b3f104ef42a2a89e41014de.png) [@system](https://discuss.elastic.co/u/system)\ **Post date:** [August 22, 2017, 8:54pm UTC](https://discuss.elastic.co/t/multiple-logstash-instances-vs-filebeats-architecture/94437/3 "2017-08-22T20:54:48Z")
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