# Put each shard on different disk **URL:** \ **Category:** Elasticsearch\ **Created:** [August 20, 2013, 12:16am UTC](https://discuss.elastic.co/t/put-each-shard-on-different-disk/13262 "2013-08-20T00:16:38Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 9\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Mingfeng\_Yang](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/e480ec/32.png) [@Mingfeng\_Yang](https://discuss.elastic.co/u/Mingfeng_Yang)\ **Post date:** [August 20, 2013, 12:16am UTC](https://discuss.elastic.co/t/put-each-shard-on-different-disk/13262/1 "2013-08-20T00:16:38Z")
I am trying to set up a ES server (one node only) with 4 shards. Is it possible to put 4 shard on 4 different disks? How? Thanks, Ming- -- 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:** ![radu\_gheorghe](https://sea2.discourse-cdn.com/elastic/user_avatar/discuss.elastic.co/radu_gheorghe/32/556_2.png) [@radu\_gheorghe](https://discuss.elastic.co/u/radu_gheorghe)\ **Post date:** [August 20, 2013, 8:54am UTC](https://discuss.elastic.co/t/put-each-shard-on-different-disk/13262/2 "2013-08-20T08:54:12Z")
Hello Ming, The only way I can think of is to create the index, then shut down Elasticsearch, then copy each shard's directory (eg: /var/lib/elasticsearch/elasticsearch/nodes/0/indices/test/$SHARD\_NUMBER/) to each of your disks, then mount each disk on each shard directory. On restarting Elasticsearch, it should use the 4 disks. I've never tried it, I have no idea if it works but I guess it's worth trying 🙂 ## Best regards, Radu [http://sematext.com/](http://sematext.com/) -- Elasticsearch -- Solr -- Lucene On Tue, Aug 20, 2013 at 3:16 AM, [mfyang@wisewindow.com](mailto:mfyang@wisewindow.com) wrote: > I am trying to set up a ES server (one node only) with 4 shards. Is it > possible to put 4 shard on 4 different disks? How? > > Thanks, > Ming- > > -- > 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). -- 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:** ![simonw\_2](https://sea2.discourse-cdn.com/elastic/user_avatar/discuss.elastic.co/simonw_2/32/1130_2.png) [@simonw\_2](https://discuss.elastic.co/u/simonw_2)\ **Post date:** [August 20, 2013, 3:35pm UTC](https://discuss.elastic.co/t/put-each-shard-on-different-disk/13262/3 "2013-08-20T15:35:15Z")
you can specify multiple data directories like `path.data=["path1", "path2"]` this will put shards on different disks if you configure it to point to them.. it will use the least used one simon On Tuesday, August 20, 2013 2:16:38 AM UTC+2, [mfy...@wisewindow.com](mailto:mfy...@wisewindow.com) wrote: > I am trying to set up a ES server (one node only) with 4 shards. Is it > possible to put 4 shard on 4 different disks? How? > > Thanks, > Ming- -- 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 21, 2013, 8:54am UTC](https://discuss.elastic.co/t/put-each-shard-on-different-disk/13262/4 "2013-08-21T08:54:51Z")
Looking deeper at what Simon suggested, that's how you can have multiple data directories as mentioned here[http://www.elasticsearch.org/guide/reference/setup/dir-layout/](http://www.elasticsearch.org/guide/reference/setup/dir-layout/). The files are going to get distributed into those different directories depending on the index.store.distributor setting which can be set to least\_used (selects the directory with the most available space) or random. But the distribution happens per file, not per shard (lucene index), thus it is not possible to control where every (whole) shard is stored. It would be interesting to know more about the usecase here. Could you elaborate a bit more about it? And on question: do you want to just put every shard in a different directory or would you like to control where each shard goes too? On Tuesday, August 20, 2013 5:35:15 PM UTC+2, simonw wrote: > you can specify multiple data directories like `path.data=["path1", "path2"]` > > this will put shards on different disks if you configure it to point to > them.. it will use the least used one > > simon > > On Tuesday, August 20, 2013 2:16:38 AM UTC+2, [mfy...@wisewindow.com](mailto:mfy...@wisewindow.com) wrote: > > > I am trying to set up a ES server (one node only) with 4 shards. Is it > > possible to put 4 shard on 4 different disks? How? > > > > Thanks, > > Ming- -- 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:** ![Mingfeng\_Yang](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/e480ec/32.png) [@Mingfeng\_Yang](https://discuss.elastic.co/u/Mingfeng_Yang)\ **Post date:** [August 21, 2013, 5:45pm UTC](https://discuss.elastic.co/t/put-each-shard-on-different-disk/13262/5 "2013-08-21T17:45:15Z")
Hi Luca, In this particular case, I intend to use ES as kinda of data archive for a few TB of text info, and I want to do a query with keywords from time to time to get related info. I intend to use 8 shards. In the server I set up (amazon ec2), I have 8 cpu cores, and 8 1TB disk. I'd like to put one shard on each disk. From what I learned about ES, seems like it can distribute storage across multiple disk, like raid0. But it can not control which shard goes to which place. As a result, data for each shard would spread across all eight disks. True? Ming- On Wed, Aug 21, 2013 at 1:54 AM, Luca Cavanna [cavannaluca@gmail.com](mailto:cavannaluca@gmail.com) wrote: > Looking deeper at what Simon suggested, that's how you can have multiple > data directories as mentioned here[http://www.elasticsearch.org/guide/reference/setup/dir-layout/](http://www.elasticsearch.org/guide/reference/setup/dir-layout/). > The files are going to get distributed into those different directories > depending on the index.store.distributor setting which can be set to > least\_used (selects the directory with the most available space) or random. > But the distribution happens per file, not per shard (lucene index), thus > it is not possible to control where every (whole) shard is stored. > > It would be interesting to know more about the usecase here. Could you > elaborate a bit more about it? And on question: do you want to just put > every shard in a different directory or would you like to control where > each shard goes too? > > On Tuesday, August 20, 2013 5:35:15 PM UTC+2, simonw wrote: > > > you can specify multiple data directories like `path.data=["path1", "path2"]` > > > > this will put shards on different disks if you configure it to point to > > them.. it will use the least used one > > > > simon > > > > On Tuesday, August 20, 2013 2:16:38 AM UTC+2, mfy...@wisewindow.comwrote: > > > > > I am trying to set up a ES server (one node only) with 4 shards. Is it > > > possible to put 4 shard on 4 different disks? How? > > > > > > Thanks, > > > Ming- > > > > -- > > You received this message because you are subscribed to a topic in the > > Google Groups "elasticsearch" group. > > To unsubscribe from this topic, visit > > [https://groups.google.com/d/topic/elasticsearch/irDHHN5yBps/unsubscribe](https://groups.google.com/d/topic/elasticsearch/irDHHN5yBps/unsubscribe). > > To unsubscribe from this group and all its topics, 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). -- 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 22, 2013, 8:37am UTC](https://discuss.elastic.co/t/put-each-shard-on-different-disk/13262/6 "2013-08-22T08:37:43Z")
Hi Ming, yes you got it right, using multiple data directories the distribution would happen on a file basis. On Wed, Aug 21, 2013 at 7:45 PM, Mingfeng Yang [mfyang@wisewindow.com](mailto:mfyang@wisewindow.com)wrote: > Hi Luca, > > In this particular case, I intend to use ES as kinda of data archive for a > few TB of text info, and I want to do a query with keywords from time to > time to get related info. I intend to use 8 shards. In the server I set > up (amazon ec2), I have 8 cpu cores, and 8 1TB disk. I'd like to put one > shard on each disk. > > From what I learned about ES, seems like it can distribute storage across > multiple disk, like raid0. But it can not control which shard goes to > which place. As a result, data for each shard would spread across all > eight disks. True? > > Ming- > > On Wed, Aug 21, 2013 at 1:54 AM, Luca Cavanna [cavannaluca@gmail.com](mailto:cavannaluca@gmail.com)wrote: > > > Looking deeper at what Simon suggested, that's how you can have multiple > > data directories as mentioned here[http://www.elasticsearch.org/guide/reference/setup/dir-layout/](http://www.elasticsearch.org/guide/reference/setup/dir-layout/). > > The files are going to get distributed into those different directories > > depending on the index.store.distributor setting which can be set to > > least\_used (selects the directory with the most available space) or random. > > But the distribution happens per file, not per shard (lucene index), thus > > it is not possible to control where every (whole) shard is stored. > > > > It would be interesting to know more about the usecase here. Could you > > elaborate a bit more about it? And on question: do you want to just put > > every shard in a different directory or would you like to control where > > each shard goes too? > > > > On Tuesday, August 20, 2013 5:35:15 PM UTC+2, simonw wrote: > > > > > you can specify multiple data directories like `path.data=["path1", "path2"]` > > > > > > this will put shards on different disks if you configure it to point to > > > them.. it will use the least used one > > > > > > simon > > > > > > On Tuesday, August 20, 2013 2:16:38 AM UTC+2, mfy...@wisewindow.comwrote: > > > > > > > I am trying to set up a ES server (one node only) with 4 shards. Is it > > > > possible to put 4 shard on 4 different disks? How? > > > > > > > > Thanks, > > > > Ming- > > > > > > -- > > > You received this message because you are subscribed to a topic in the > > > Google Groups "elasticsearch" group. > > > To unsubscribe from this topic, visit > > > [https://groups.google.com/d/topic/elasticsearch/irDHHN5yBps/unsubscribe](https://groups.google.com/d/topic/elasticsearch/irDHHN5yBps/unsubscribe). > > > To unsubscribe from this group and all its topics, 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). > > -- > You received this message because you are subscribed to a topic in the > Google Groups "elasticsearch" group. > To unsubscribe from this topic, visit > [https://groups.google.com/d/topic/elasticsearch/irDHHN5yBps/unsubscribe](https://groups.google.com/d/topic/elasticsearch/irDHHN5yBps/unsubscribe). > To unsubscribe from this group and all its topics, 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). -- 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:** ![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:** [August 22, 2013, 8:46am UTC](https://discuss.elastic.co/t/put-each-shard-on-different-disk/13262/7 "2013-08-22T08:46:56Z")
Instead of fiddling with shards and paths and reallocation etc. it is much easier to use mdadm to create a single RAID0 on EC2 and use Elasticsearch with the default settings. As a bonus with 8 disks, you can read 8x faster. For example, like described here [http://www.gabrielweinberg.com/blog/2011/05/raid0-ephemeral-storage-on-aws-ec2.html](http://www.gabrielweinberg.com/blog/2011/05/raid0-ephemeral-storage-on-aws-ec2.html) Jörg -- 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:** ![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:** [August 22, 2013, 8:49am UTC](https://discuss.elastic.co/t/put-each-shard-on-different-disk/13262/8 "2013-08-22T08:49:04Z")
Or this [http://aws.amazon.com/articles/Amazon-EC2/1074](http://aws.amazon.com/articles/Amazon-EC2/1074) Jörg -- 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, 2:20am UTC](https://discuss.elastic.co/t/put-each-shard-on-different-disk/13262/9 "2017-07-06T02:20:13Z")