# Should I consider Elastic as primary storage for data I want to search through? **URL:** \ **Category:** Elasticsearch\ **Created:** [May 26, 2016, 4:40am UTC](https://discuss.elastic.co/t/should-i-consider-elastic-as-primary-storage-for-data-i-want-to-search-through/51014 "2016-05-26T04:40:45Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 7\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![lessless](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/bc8723/32.png) [@lessless](https://discuss.elastic.co/u/lessless)\ **Post date:** [May 26, 2016, 4:40am UTC](https://discuss.elastic.co/t/should-i-consider-elastic-as-primary-storage-for-data-i-want-to-search-through/51014/1 "2016-05-26T04:40:45Z")
Hello, this is my literally first experience with Elastic and I want to make sure that there will bo no decision that I'll regret about later. The question is: is it advised (possible, recommended) to use Elastic as primary storage for the data that I want to search through? That data is our core asset and no entry can be lost, **Consistency** is the key. Thank you. ---
**Author:** ![dadoonet](https://sea2.discourse-cdn.com/elastic/user_avatar/discuss.elastic.co/dadoonet/32/137187_2.png) [@dadoonet](https://discuss.elastic.co/u/dadoonet)\ **Post date:** [May 26, 2016, 5:07am UTC](https://discuss.elastic.co/t/should-i-consider-elastic-as-primary-storage-for-data-i-want-to-search-through/51014/2 "2016-05-26T05:07:59Z")
Read this: [https://www.elastic.co/guide/en/elasticsearch/resiliency/current/index.html](https://www.elastic.co/guide/en/elasticsearch/resiliency/current/index.html) ---
**Author:** ![lessless](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/bc8723/32.png) [@lessless](https://discuss.elastic.co/u/lessless)\ **Post date:** [May 26, 2016, 5:40am UTC](https://discuss.elastic.co/t/should-i-consider-elastic-as-primary-storage-for-data-i-want-to-search-through/51014/3 "2016-05-26T05:40:20Z")
Hi David, That article gives no clue, it looks like a filtered release changelog actually 🙂 "Data Store Recommendations" section is empty and frankly I can't see how it can clarify the situation. Cheers. ---
**Author:** ![Glen\_Smith](https://sea2.discourse-cdn.com/elastic/user_avatar/discuss.elastic.co/glen_smith/32/111656_2.png) [@Glen\_Smith](https://discuss.elastic.co/u/Glen_Smith)\ **Post date:** [May 26, 2016, 5:59am UTC](https://discuss.elastic.co/t/should-i-consider-elastic-as-primary-storage-for-data-i-want-to-search-through/51014/4 "2016-05-26T05:59:10Z")
> [@lessless](#): > > "Data Store Recommendations" section is empty Odd. Try another browser? ---
**Author:** ![lessless](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/bc8723/32.png) [@lessless](https://discuss.elastic.co/u/lessless)\ **Post date:** [May 26, 2016, 6:10am UTC](https://discuss.elastic.co/t/should-i-consider-elastic-as-primary-storage-for-data-i-want-to-search-through/51014/5 "2016-05-26T06:10:10Z")
Not literally empty, but metaphorically empty - i.e. contains no useful information for a n00b. "Some users use it this way, other users it another way, so we put up a changelog to help make your mind" 🙂 I'm not an expert, I just want to know if I'll be safe with throwing away PostgreSQL/PostGIS complexity or should keep it as a primary data store and use Elastic as a read-only storage. Thanks . ---
**Author:** ![dadoonet](https://sea2.discourse-cdn.com/elastic/user_avatar/discuss.elastic.co/dadoonet/32/137187_2.png) [@dadoonet](https://discuss.elastic.co/u/dadoonet)\ **Post date:** [May 26, 2016, 6:41am UTC](https://discuss.elastic.co/t/should-i-consider-elastic-as-primary-storage-for-data-i-want-to-search-through/51014/6 "2016-05-26T06:41:18Z")
> Some customers use Elasticsearch as a primary datastore, some set-up comprehensive back-up solutions using features such as our Snapshot and Restore, while others use Elasticsearch in conjunction with a data storage system like Hadoop or even flat files. Elasticsearch can be used for so many different use cases which is why we have created this page to make sure you are fully informed when you are architecting your system. It basically means that if you have critical data you should also store (backup) them in another place like PostgreSQL. A filesystem can also be seen as a datastore. So to answer to your question, you can keep your data in PostgreSQL. But I'd definitely use Elasticsearch as the search engine 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![system](https://us1.discourse-cdn.com/elastic/original/3X/1/a/1ac57faf039f6b580b3f104ef42a2a89e41014de.png) [@system](https://discuss.elastic.co/u/system)\ **Post date:** [July 5, 2017, 10:48pm UTC](https://discuss.elastic.co/t/should-i-consider-elastic-as-primary-storage-for-data-i-want-to-search-through/51014/7 "2017-07-05T22:48:55Z")