# Very large index , delete and recreate replica
**URL:** https://discuss.elastic.co/t/very-large-index-delete-and-recreate-replica/314608
**Category:** Elasticsearch
**Created:** [September 17, 2022, 4:04am UTC](https://discuss.elastic.co/t/very-large-index-delete-and-recreate-replica/314608 "2022-09-17T04:04:39Z")
**Posts on this page:** 10
**Page:** 1
### Author:  [@Paul-Ayo](https://discuss.elastic.co/u/Paul-Ayo)
#### Post date: [September 17, 2022, 4:04am UTC](https://discuss.elastic.co/t/very-large-index-delete-and-recreate-replica/314608/1 "2022-09-17T04:04:39Z")
I have a huge index which i want to split or reindex , the index has one primary and one replica shard both 118gb . I need to create a new index from the current to be able to use ILM as the index name does not fulfill the naming requirements . The issue here is i don't have sufficient space to just split the index into a new one . can set replicas to 0 , split the index, delete the old index , set replica to one again on the new index without data loss ?
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### Author:  [@Christian\_Dahlqvist](https://discuss.elastic.co/u/Christian_Dahlqvist)
#### Post date: [September 17, 2022, 4:31am UTC](https://discuss.elastic.co/t/very-large-index-delete-and-recreate-replica/314608/2 "2022-09-17T04:31:00Z")
The splitting of an index happens on a single node, which requires additional disk space, so I do not think that will work. IF you drop the replica you should however be able to reindex into a new index/set of indices as these can be located on the other node.
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### Author:  [@Paul-Ayo](https://discuss.elastic.co/u/Paul-Ayo)
#### Post date: [September 17, 2022, 4:42am UTC](https://discuss.elastic.co/t/very-large-index-delete-and-recreate-replica/314608/3 "2022-09-17T04:42:17Z")
Thanks for the response
what is the likely impact of dropping the replica in the mean time
to perform re-index
and also how does the clone api work?
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### Author:  [@Christian\_Dahlqvist](https://discuss.elastic.co/u/Christian_Dahlqvist)
#### Post date: [September 17, 2022, 4:46am UTC](https://discuss.elastic.co/t/very-large-index-delete-and-recreate-replica/314608/4 "2022-09-17T04:46:54Z")
> [@Paul-Ayo](#):
>
> what is the likely impact of dropping the replica in the mean time
> to perform re-index
You will be running without a replica, so any node failures during the reindexing could lead to data loss. If the data is important I would recommend [creating a snapshot](https://www.elastic.co/guide/en/elasticsearch/reference/8.4/snapshot-restore-apis.html) before working on the index.
> [@Paul-Ayo](#):
>
> and also how does the clone api work?
Cloning an index creates an exact copy, which is not what you want.
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### Author:  [@Paul-Ayo](https://discuss.elastic.co/u/Paul-Ayo)
#### Post date: [September 17, 2022, 6:10am UTC](https://discuss.elastic.co/t/very-large-index-delete-and-recreate-replica/314608/5 "2022-09-17T06:10:45Z")
For a future purpose, does clone api also happen on a single node
@Christian_Dahlqvist
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### Author:  [@DavidTurner](https://discuss.elastic.co/u/DavidTurner)
#### Post date: [September 17, 2022, 10:15am UTC](https://discuss.elastic.co/t/very-large-index-delete-and-recreate-replica/314608/6 "2022-09-17T10:15:02Z")
> [@Paul-Ayo](#):
>
> does clone api also happen on a single node
No, cloning happens in-place for each shard separately.
Do you really need to do anything to this index? 118GiB isn't all that large really, I don't think it'll cause many problems. I would suggest just leaving it alone, and using ILM-managed indices for new data only.
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### Author:  [@Paul-Ayo](https://discuss.elastic.co/u/Paul-Ayo)
#### Post date: [September 17, 2022, 10:37am UTC](https://discuss.elastic.co/t/very-large-index-delete-and-recreate-replica/314608/7 "2022-09-17T10:37:50Z")
So , this index has the potential to become really big , has one primary shard and one replica , instead of endless scaling up the host server i want to use ILM on this index to managed it properly ... One primary shard means the entire pressure is on a single node
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### Author:  [@Paul-Ayo](https://discuss.elastic.co/u/Paul-Ayo)
#### Post date: [September 17, 2022, 10:38am UTC](https://discuss.elastic.co/t/very-large-index-delete-and-recreate-replica/314608/8 "2022-09-17T10:38:50Z")
I also want to increase the number of primary shards on the index ..
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### Author:  [@DavidTurner](https://discuss.elastic.co/u/DavidTurner)
#### Post date: [September 18, 2022, 10:03am UTC](https://discuss.elastic.co/t/very-large-index-delete-and-recreate-replica/314608/9 "2022-09-18T10:03:26Z")
> [@Paul-Ayo](#):
>
> So , this index has the potential to become really big
Sure, but if you leave it alone and start using ILM for _new data only_ then it won't grow any further.
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### Author:  [@system](https://discuss.elastic.co/u/system)
#### Post date: [October 16, 2022, 10:03am UTC](https://discuss.elastic.co/t/very-large-index-delete-and-recreate-replica/314608/10 "2022-10-16T10:03:39Z")
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