# What is difference between master node and data node etc **URL:** \ **Category:** Elasticsearch\ **Created:** [December 1, 2017, 8:52am UTC](https://discuss.elastic.co/t/what-is-difference-between-master-node-and-data-node-etc/109896 "2017-12-01T08:52:29Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 7\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![f26227279](https://sea2.discourse-cdn.com/elastic/user_avatar/discuss.elastic.co/f26227279/32/21296_2.png) [@f26227279](https://discuss.elastic.co/u/f26227279)\ **Post date:** [December 1, 2017, 8:52am UTC](https://discuss.elastic.co/t/what-is-difference-between-master-node-and-data-node-etc/109896/1 "2017-12-01T08:52:29Z")
Hi everyone, I have refer the website: [https://www.elastic.co/guide/en/elasticsearch/reference/current/modules-node.html#data-node](https://www.elastic.co/guide/en/elasticsearch/reference/current/modules-node.html#data-node) But I still have a question that what are the difference between master node, data node,and ingest node? thank you in advance! ---
**Author:** ![Christian\_Dahlqvist](https://sea2.discourse-cdn.com/elastic/user_avatar/discuss.elastic.co/christian_dahlqvist/32/4617_2.png) [@Christian\_Dahlqvist](https://discuss.elastic.co/u/Christian_Dahlqvist)\ **Post date:** [December 1, 2017, 8:56am UTC](https://discuss.elastic.co/t/what-is-difference-between-master-node-and-data-node-etc/109896/2 "2017-12-01T08:56:19Z")
I am not sure I can describe it any better than what is in the documentation you linked to. If you can explain what is not clear or confusing, I might be easier for me to help. ---
**Author:** ![f26227279](https://sea2.discourse-cdn.com/elastic/user_avatar/discuss.elastic.co/f26227279/32/21296_2.png) [@f26227279](https://discuss.elastic.co/u/f26227279)\ **Post date:** [December 1, 2017, 9:04am UTC](https://discuss.elastic.co/t/what-is-difference-between-master-node-and-data-node-etc/109896/3 "2017-12-01T09:04:12Z")
ok. I have some questions : 1.If I open an only one node in a cluster, then the node must be master node right? 2.data node only prepare for that if one day master node crash, then it would become master node,so usually it is only stand by and store data? 3.what does ingest node do? thank you in advance ! ---
**Author:** ![Christian\_Dahlqvist](https://sea2.discourse-cdn.com/elastic/user_avatar/discuss.elastic.co/christian_dahlqvist/32/4617_2.png) [@Christian\_Dahlqvist](https://discuss.elastic.co/u/Christian_Dahlqvist)\ **Post date:** [December 1, 2017, 9:18am UTC](https://discuss.elastic.co/t/what-is-difference-between-master-node-and-data-node-etc/109896/4 "2017-12-01T09:18:19Z")
These are all roles that a node can have. By default a node will have all roles, but you can, often when a cluster grows, start to have dedicated node types. > [@f26227279](#): > > .If I open an only one node in a cluster, then the node must be master node right? You must always have at least one node that is master eligible, but ideally 3. > [@f26227279](#): > > data node only prepare for that if one day master node crash, then it would become master node, so usually it is only stand by and store data? Assigning a node the data role means that it can hold data. You must have at least one node that can hold data as well, otherwise you will have nothing to search. A data node can also be master eligible, but that has nothing to do with whether it holds data or not. > [@f26227279](#): > > what does ingest node do? The ingest node role allows the node to process data before it is indexed. I would recommend starting out with a 3 node cluster where all node have the default configuration (all roles) enabled. Once you outgrow this, you can start thinking about having nodes with dedicated roles. Just because you can have dedicated node types doesn't necessarily mean that you should. ---
**Author:** ![f26227279](https://sea2.discourse-cdn.com/elastic/user_avatar/discuss.elastic.co/f26227279/32/21296_2.png) [@f26227279](https://discuss.elastic.co/u/f26227279)\ **Post date:** [December 1, 2017, 9:31am UTC](https://discuss.elastic.co/t/what-is-difference-between-master-node-and-data-node-etc/109896/5 "2017-12-01T09:31:56Z")
ok ! so actually one node has all the function.the node type depending on how I set it. so one master node could also have the data node attributes right? ---
**Author:** ![Christian\_Dahlqvist](https://sea2.discourse-cdn.com/elastic/user_avatar/discuss.elastic.co/christian_dahlqvist/32/4617_2.png) [@Christian\_Dahlqvist](https://discuss.elastic.co/u/Christian_Dahlqvist)\ **Post date:** [December 1, 2017, 9:32am UTC](https://discuss.elastic.co/t/what-is-difference-between-master-node-and-data-node-etc/109896/6 "2017-12-01T09:32:37Z")
Yes, that is the default. ---
**Author:** ![system](https://us1.discourse-cdn.com/elastic/original/3X/1/a/1ac57faf039f6b580b3f104ef42a2a89e41014de.png) [@system](https://discuss.elastic.co/u/system)\ **Post date:** [December 29, 2017, 9:33am UTC](https://discuss.elastic.co/t/what-is-difference-between-master-node-and-data-node-etc/109896/7 "2017-12-29T09:33:01Z")
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