# Warm and cold requirements

**URL:** <https://discuss.elastic.co/t/warm-and-cold-requirements/385912>\
**Category:** Elastic Cloud Enterprise (ECE)\
**Created:** [April 16, 2026, 7:26am UTC](https://discuss.elastic.co/t/warm-and-cold-requirements/385912 "2026-04-16T07:26:30Z")\
**Posts on this page:** 2\
**Page:** 1

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**Author:** ![Ivan\_Hhero](https://sea2.discourse-cdn.com/elastic/user_avatar/discuss.elastic.co/ivan_hhero/32/147357_2.png) [@Ivan\_Hhero](https://discuss.elastic.co/u/Ivan_Hhero)\
**Post date:** [April 16, 2026, 7:26am UTC](https://discuss.elastic.co/t/warm-and-cold-requirements/385912/1 "2026-04-16T07:26:30Z")

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Hello,

I am thinking about using ECE. In the past, the Warm and Cold tiers required a **64x multiplier** (1GB RAM to 64GB Storage). However, if I want to use **25TB or 50TB** for an instance, I would need **384GB or 768GB of RAM** , which is a 'fantastic' (and expensive) size.

Would it be better to skip the Warm and Cold tiers and use only the **Frozen** tier? Could you offer some suggestions?

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**Author:** ![covj12](https://sea2.discourse-cdn.com/elastic/user_avatar/discuss.elastic.co/covj12/32/147474_2.png) [@covj12](https://discuss.elastic.co/u/covj12)\
**Post date:** [May 2, 2026, 12:50am UTC](https://discuss.elastic.co/t/warm-and-cold-requirements/385912/2 "2026-05-02T00:50:54Z")

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**Hot:** Just the data you're actively using (1-3 months)

**Cold:** Data that's a few months to a year old

**Frozen:** That 25-50TB sitting around (barely touched)

This way you sidestep the expensive 64x multiplier on Warm while keeping your RAM costs reasonable.

**Really it comes down to how old that 25-50TB is.** That's what tells you whether Frozen actually works for your situation.