# Need Advice on combining similar types from different indexes **URL:** \ **Category:** Elasticsearch\ **Created:** [August 2, 2013, 5:05pm UTC](https://discuss.elastic.co/t/need-advice-on-combining-similar-types-from-different-indexes/13047 "2013-08-02T17:05:28Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 3\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Dale\_Cameron](https://sea2.discourse-cdn.com/elastic/user_avatar/discuss.elastic.co/dale_cameron/32/2196_2.png) [@Dale\_Cameron](https://discuss.elastic.co/u/Dale_Cameron)\ **Post date:** [August 2, 2013, 5:05pm UTC](https://discuss.elastic.co/t/need-advice-on-combining-similar-types-from-different-indexes/13047/1 "2013-08-02T17:05:28Z")
I am considering using Elastic search to create an index of information about devices in the environment from different sources, and need some advice on the best way to solve my problem or if elastic search is even a good fit. The goal is to index the important pieces of information we know about devices (servers, switches etc.) from all the different sources in our enterprise, with one of the key requirements being the ability to easily see where discrepancies are. The first way I was considering was to create an index per source and a type per device type, A good example may help: (these are just examples not actual statements that were run) Getting the server from the different source indexes might yield something similar to the two statements below: curl -XGET '[http://127.0.0.1:9200/activeDirectory/server/servername1’](http://127.0.0.1:9200/activeDirectory/server/servername1%E2%80%99) { "\_index":"activeDirectory", "type":"server", "id":"servername1", "env":"prod", "description" : "A super cool web server", "etc":"lots of other fields" } curl -XGET '[http://127.0.0.1:9200/inventoryDB/server/servername1’](http://127.0.0.1:9200/inventoryDB/server/servername1%E2%80%99) { "\_index":"inventoryDB", "type":"server", "id":"servername1", "env":"test", "owner":"Bob", "etc":"other fields and values" } And then getting the server from the combined index would yield something similar to: curl -XGET '[http://127.0.0.1:9200/all/server/servername1’](http://127.0.0.1:9200/all/server/servername1%E2%80%99) { "\_index":"all", "type":"server", "id":"servername1", "env":{ "activeDirectory" : "prod", "inventoryDB" : "test" }, "owner": {"inventoryDB" : "Bob"}, "description" : {"activeDirectory":"A super cool web server"}, "etc":{"activeDirectory" : "lots of other fields", inventoryDB " : "other fields and values"} } I like the idea of having all sources in their own index, but that is not as important as having the combined index so maybe it would be simpler to just index the data as it comes in into the combined index. If I did that could I use a custom mapping or is there a better way? Thanks Dale -- 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). For more options, visit [https://groups.google.com/groups/opt\_out](https://groups.google.com/groups/opt_out). ---
**Author:** ![javanna](https://sea2.discourse-cdn.com/elastic/user_avatar/discuss.elastic.co/javanna/32/4698_2.png) [@javanna](https://discuss.elastic.co/u/javanna)\ **Post date:** [August 5, 2013, 1:58pm UTC](https://discuss.elastic.co/t/need-advice-on-combining-similar-types-from-different-indexes/13047/2 "2013-08-05T13:58:10Z")
Hi Dale, not sure what you mean by custom mapping but if you just intend to index the same documents on different indices, you might want to have a look at aliases[http://www.elasticsearch.org/guide/reference/api/admin-indices-aliases/](http://www.elasticsearch.org/guide/reference/api/admin-indices-aliases/), which allows to have virtual indices you can refer to that point to one or more physical index. An alias can also hold filters or a custom routing value. Hope this helps Luca On Friday, August 2, 2013 7:05:28 PM UTC+2, Dale Cameron wrote: > I am considering using Elastic search to create an index of information > about devices in the environment from different sources, and need some > advice on the best way to solve my problem or if Elasticsearch is even a > good fit. > The goal is to index the important pieces of information we know about > devices (servers, switches etc.) from all the different sources in our > enterprise, with one of the key requirements being the ability to easily > see where discrepancies are. > The first way I was considering was to create an index per source and a > type per device type, A good example may help: > (these are just examples not actual statements that were run) > Getting the server from the different source indexes might yield something > similar to the two statements below: > > curl -XGET '[http://127.0.0.1:9200/activeDirectory/server/servername1’](http://127.0.0.1:9200/activeDirectory/server/servername1%E2%80%99) > { > "\_index":"activeDirectory", > "type":"server", > "id":"servername1", > "env":"prod", > "description" : "A super cool web server", > "etc":"lots of other fields" > } > curl -XGET '[http://127.0.0.1:9200/inventoryDB/server/servername1’](http://127.0.0.1:9200/inventoryDB/server/servername1%E2%80%99) > { > "\_index":"inventoryDB", > "type":"server", > "id":"servername1", > "env":"test", > "owner":"Bob", > "etc":"other fields and values" > } > > And then getting the server from the combined index would yield something > similar to: > curl -XGET '[http://127.0.0.1:9200/all/server/servername1’](http://127.0.0.1:9200/all/server/servername1%E2%80%99) > { > "\_index":"all", > "type":"server", > "id":"servername1", > "env":{ "activeDirectory" : "prod", "inventoryDB" : "test" }, > "owner": {"inventoryDB" : "Bob"}, > "description" : {"activeDirectory":"A super cool web server"}, > "etc":{"activeDirectory" : "lots of other fields", inventoryDB " : "other > fields and values"} > } > > I like the idea of having all sources in their own index, but that is not > as important as having the combined index so maybe it would be simpler to > just index the data as it comes in into the combined index. If I did that > could I use a custom mapping or is there a better way? > > Thanks > Dale -- 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). For more options, visit [https://groups.google.com/groups/opt\_out](https://groups.google.com/groups/opt_out). ---
**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, 2:22am UTC](https://discuss.elastic.co/t/need-advice-on-combining-similar-types-from-different-indexes/13047/3 "2017-07-06T02:22:54Z")