# Using ES as an alternative for a data warehouse **URL:** \ **Category:** Elasticsearch\ **Created:** [July 23, 2012, 3:11am UTC](https://discuss.elastic.co/t/using-es-as-an-alternative-for-a-data-warehouse/8486 "2012-07-23T03:11:22Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 5\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Parikshit\_Samant](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/3bc359/32.png) [@Parikshit\_Samant](https://discuss.elastic.co/u/Parikshit_Samant)\ **Post date:** [July 23, 2012, 3:11am UTC](https://discuss.elastic.co/t/using-es-as-an-alternative-for-a-data-warehouse/8486/1 "2012-07-23T03:11:22Z")
Hi, I was investigating over whether we could use elasticsearch as an alternative for a data warehouse. - The following features of ES are useful: Schemaless storage, Fault tolerance, scalability via distribution, JSON API, CRUD operations. - ACID properties, transactions are not very crucial to us. Wherever applicable we could handle it at the application level. So, that is not a problem too. - Even joins and other set based SQL operations like existence, intersections can be managed somehow. However, was not sure about the following, which was certainly crucial: - _Group by + having + aggregates over large data sets_: ES does have facets, can possibly can be used in case we want counts as aggregates, but probably not optimal. If the aggregation capabilities are going to be very unnatural/heavy for ES, we might as well need to go with some other alternative (Mongo/Couch or maybe MySQL, don't know), and use ES only for search, or just full-text search. Would appreciate any help on the above. Regards, --Parikshit N. Samant. ---
**Author:** ![Radu\_Gheorghe1](https://sea2.discourse-cdn.com/elastic/user_avatar/discuss.elastic.co/radu_gheorghe1/32/2688_2.png) [@Radu\_Gheorghe1](https://discuss.elastic.co/u/Radu_Gheorghe1)\ **Post date:** [July 23, 2012, 5:52am UTC](https://discuss.elastic.co/t/using-es-as-an-alternative-for-a-data-warehouse/8486/2 "2012-07-23T05:52:40Z")
Hi, Yes, well if facets are not enough for what you need, I think you should look at something with map/reduce functionality, and put Elasticsearch on top of it and use it for what it offers (search, facets). Best regards, Radu On Monday, July 23, 2012 6:11:22 AM UTC+3, Parikshit Samant wrote: > Hi, > > I was investigating over whether we could use elasticsearch as an > alternative for a data warehouse. > > - The following features of ES are useful: Schemaless storage, Fault > tolerance, scalability via distribution, JSON API, CRUD operations. > - ACID properties, transactions are not very crucial to us. Wherever > applicable we could handle it at the application level. So, that is not a > problem too. > - Even joins and other set based SQL operations like existence, > intersections can be managed somehow. > > However, was not sure about the following, which was certainly crucial: > > - _Group by + having + aggregates over large data sets_: ES does have > facets, can possibly can be used in case we want counts as aggregates, but > probably not optimal. > > If the aggregation capabilities are going to be very unnatural/heavy for > ES, we might as well need to go with some other alternative (Mongo/Couch or > maybe MySQL, don't know), and use ES only for search, or just full-text > search. > > Would appreciate any help on the above. > > Regards, > --Parikshit N. Samant. ---
**Author:** ![Clinton\_Gormley](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/50afbb/32.png) [@Clinton\_Gormley](https://discuss.elastic.co/u/Clinton_Gormley)\ **Post date:** [July 23, 2012, 9:25am UTC](https://discuss.elastic.co/t/using-es-as-an-alternative-for-a-data-warehouse/8486/3 "2012-07-23T09:25:24Z")
Hiya > - Group by + having + aggregates over large data sets: ES does have > facets, can possibly can be used in case we want counts as aggregates, > but probably not optimal. > > If the aggregation capabilities are going to be very unnatural/heavy > for ES, we might as well need to go with some other alternative > (Mongo/Couch or maybe MySQL, don't know), and use ES only for search, > or just full-text search. Facets are a natural part of ES and Lucene. Depending on your data and your queries, they may use quite a lot of memory. Without concrete examples, its difficult to say whether it is a good match or not, but based upon what you've said so far, I would think that ES fits in very well with your requirements clint > Would appreciate any help on the above. > > Regards, > --Parikshit N. Samant. ---
**Author:** ![Parikshit\_Samant](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/3bc359/32.png) [@Parikshit\_Samant](https://discuss.elastic.co/u/Parikshit_Samant)\ **Post date:** [July 24, 2012, 2:30pm UTC](https://discuss.elastic.co/t/using-es-as-an-alternative-for-a-data-warehouse/8486/4 "2012-07-24T14:30:22Z")
Thanks for the help. I guess we will need to continue using facets for aggregates like counts. Might need to move over to something else (hadoop etc.) for other stuff. E.g. for things like: "select department, account, sum(revenue) from accountDetail group by department,account having sum(revenue) \> 40000 Regards, --Parikshit N. Samant. On Monday, 23 July 2012 14:55:24 UTC+5:30, Clinton Gormley wrote: > Hiya > > > - Group by + having + aggregates over large data sets: ES does have > > facets, can possibly can be used in case we want counts as aggregates, > > but probably not optimal. > > > > If the aggregation capabilities are going to be very unnatural/heavy > > for ES, we might as well need to go with some other alternative > > (Mongo/Couch or maybe MySQL, don't know), and use ES only for search, > > or just full-text search. > > Facets are a natural part of ES and Lucene. Depending on your data and > your queries, they may use quite a lot of memory. Without concrete > examples, its difficult to say whether it is a good match or not, but > based upon what you've said so far, I would think that ES fits in very > well with your requirements > > clint > > > Would appreciate any help on the above. > > > > Regards, > > --Parikshit N. Samant. ---
**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, 3:19am UTC](https://discuss.elastic.co/t/using-es-as-an-alternative-for-a-data-warehouse/8486/5 "2017-07-06T03:19:18Z")