[role="xpack"]
[[data-management]]
= Data management

[partintro]
--
The data you store in {es} generally falls into one of two categories:

* Content: a collection of items you want to search, such as a catalog of products
* Time series data: a stream of continuously-generated timestamped data, such as log entries

Content might be frequently updated, 
but the value of the content remains relatively constant over time. 
You want to be able to retrieve items quickly regardless of how old they are. 

Time series data keeps accumulating over time, so you need strategies for 
balancing the value of the data against the cost of storing it. 
As it ages, it tends to become less important and less-frequently accessed, 
so you can move it to less expensive, less performant hardware. 
For your oldest data, what matters is that you have access to the data. 
It's ok if queries take longer to complete.

To help you manage your data, {es} enables you to:

* Define <<data-tiers, multiple tiers>> of data nodes with different performance characteristics.
* Automatically transition indices through the data tiers according to your performance needs and retention policies
with <<index-lifecycle-management, {ilm}>> ({ilm-init}). 
* Leverage <<searchable-snapshots, searchable snapshots>> stored in a remote repository to provide resiliency 
for your older indices while reducing operating costs and maintaining search performance.  
* Perform <<async-search-intro, asynchronous searches>> of data stored on less-performant hardware.
--

include::datatiers.asciidoc[]
