# When multiple nodes need to communicate to handle a query, what protocol do they use? **URL:** \ **Category:** Elasticsearch\ **Created:** [May 21, 2015, 4:49pm UTC](https://discuss.elastic.co/t/when-multiple-nodes-need-to-communicate-to-handle-a-query-what-protocol-do-they-use/23664 "2015-05-21T16:49:57Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 3\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Swaraj\_Banerjee\_2](https://sea2.discourse-cdn.com/elastic/user_avatar/discuss.elastic.co/swaraj_banerjee_2/32/696_2.png) [@Swaraj\_Banerjee\_2](https://discuss.elastic.co/u/Swaraj_Banerjee_2)\ **Post date:** [May 21, 2015, 4:49pm UTC](https://discuss.elastic.co/t/when-multiple-nodes-need-to-communicate-to-handle-a-query-what-protocol-do-they-use/23664/1 "2015-05-21T16:49:57Z")
When multiple nodes need to communicate to handle a query, what protocol do they use? If I issue a search request to an index that lives on multiple shards (that are on separate nodes), I send the request to ES using an HTTP REST API w/ JSON. Do ES nodes within a cluster also communicate with each other over HTTP w/ JSON? If not, what is the protocol used? Thanks, Swaraj ## -- Please update your bookmarks! We have moved to [https://discuss.elastic.co/](https://discuss.elastic.co/) You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "elasticsearch" group. To unsubscribe from this group and stop receiving emails from it, send an email to [elasticsearch+unsubscribe@googlegroups.com](mailto:elasticsearch+unsubscribe@googlegroups.com). To view this discussion on the web visit [https://groups.google.com/d/msgid/elasticsearch/ec3a27f5-626e-4cd6-b445-89390b3cb988%40googlegroups.com](https://groups.google.com/d/msgid/elasticsearch/ec3a27f5-626e-4cd6-b445-89390b3cb988%40googlegroups.com). For more options, visit [https://groups.google.com/d/optout](https://groups.google.com/d/optout). ---
**Author:** ![nik9000](https://sea2.discourse-cdn.com/elastic/user_avatar/discuss.elastic.co/nik9000/32/44947_2.png) [@nik9000](https://discuss.elastic.co/u/nik9000)\ **Post date:** [May 21, 2015, 5:18pm UTC](https://discuss.elastic.co/t/when-multiple-nodes-need-to-communicate-to-handle-a-query-what-protocol-do-they-use/23664/2 "2015-05-21T17:18:50Z")
On Thu, May 21, 2015 at 12:49 PM, Swaraj Banerjee [swaraj@expectlabs.com](mailto:swaraj@expectlabs.com) wrote: When multiple nodes need to communicate to handle a query, what protocol do > they use? > > If I issue a search request to an index that lives on multiple shards > (that are on separate nodes), I send the request to ES using an HTTP REST > API w/ JSON. Do ES nodes within a cluster also communicate with each other > over HTTP w/ JSON? If not, what is the protocol used? > > Thanks, > Swaraj You should probably go over to [discuss.elastic.co](http://discuss.elastic.co) for questions from here on out - this list is deprecated. Elasticseach uses its own binary-ish protocol that it runs around port 9300. Most stuff is hand encoded and decoded into relatively compact binary representations. The queries are sent as (kinda, mostly) text inside the binary and parsed on the data nodes. Nik ## -- Please update your bookmarks! We have moved to [https://discuss.elastic.co/](https://discuss.elastic.co/) You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "elasticsearch" group. To unsubscribe from this group and stop receiving emails from it, send an email to [elasticsearch+unsubscribe@googlegroups.com](mailto:elasticsearch+unsubscribe@googlegroups.com). To view this discussion on the web visit [https://groups.google.com/d/msgid/elasticsearch/CAPmjWd13dzd8ConsKnQpB4etdmBY2eNEnqLqwz4VPMXHNOh\_7Q%40mail.gmail.com](https://groups.google.com/d/msgid/elasticsearch/CAPmjWd13dzd8ConsKnQpB4etdmBY2eNEnqLqwz4VPMXHNOh_7Q%40mail.gmail.com). For more options, visit [https://groups.google.com/d/optout](https://groups.google.com/d/optout). ---
**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, 12:12am UTC](https://discuss.elastic.co/t/when-multiple-nodes-need-to-communicate-to-handle-a-query-what-protocol-do-they-use/23664/3 "2017-07-06T00:12:35Z")