# When should I use non-data nodes? **URL:** \ **Category:** Elasticsearch\ **Created:** [September 9, 2015, 1:08pm UTC](https://discuss.elastic.co/t/when-should-i-use-non-data-nodes/28928 "2015-09-09T13:08:29Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 3\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![tickermcse76](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/d6d6ee/32.png) [@tickermcse76](https://discuss.elastic.co/u/tickermcse76)\ **Post date:** [September 9, 2015, 1:08pm UTC](https://discuss.elastic.co/t/when-should-i-use-non-data-nodes/28928/1 "2015-09-09T13:08:29Z")
We currently have a design where Elasticsearch is located directly on the web server and are trying to separate this out. One idea was to build something like this: [http://www.asktoapps.com/scaling-and-optimization-of-elasticsearch-cluster-part-i/](http://www.asktoapps.com/scaling-and-optimization-of-elasticsearch-cluster-part-i/) It seems a bit overkill and was thinking of removing the non-data node layer completely. The web servers would use an ES client to query the data node cluster. Are their any shortcoming with this approach compared to having that extra non-data node layer? Here are the 3 models: 1 - WWW/ES together | data ES 2 - WWW | non-data ES | data ES 3 - WWW | data ES Thoughts/opinions? ---
**Author:** ![warkolm](https://sea2.discourse-cdn.com/elastic/user_avatar/discuss.elastic.co/warkolm/32/39224_2.png) [@warkolm](https://discuss.elastic.co/u/warkolm)\ **Post date:** [September 10, 2015, 9:41am UTC](https://discuss.elastic.co/t/when-should-i-use-non-data-nodes/28928/2 "2015-09-10T09:41:18Z")
Client nodes are handy for heavy query cases. But it sounds like just using one of the client libraries will suit you. ---
**Author:** ![system](https://us1.discourse-cdn.com/elastic/original/3X/1/a/1ac57faf039f6b580b3f104ef42a2a89e41014de.png) [@system](https://discuss.elastic.co/u/system)\ **Post date:** [July 5, 2017, 11:51pm UTC](https://discuss.elastic.co/t/when-should-i-use-non-data-nodes/28928/3 "2017-07-05T23:51:21Z")