elasticsearch/docs/reference/how-to/avoid-oversharding.asciidoc

[[avoid-oversharding]]
== Avoid oversharding

In some cases, reducing the number of shards in a cluster while maintaining the
same amount of data leads to a more effective use of system resources
(CPU, RAM, IO). In these situations, we consider the cluster _oversharded_.

The number of shards where this inflection point occurs depends on a variety
of factors, including:

* available hardware
* indexing load
* data volume
* the types of queries executed against the clusters
* the rate of these queries being issued
* the volume of data being queried

Testing against production data with production queries on production hardware
is the only way to calibrate optimal shard sizes. Shard sizes of tens of GB
are commonly used, and this may be a useful starting point from which to
experiment. {kib}'s {kibana-ref}/elasticsearch-metrics.html[{es} monitoring]
provides a useful view of historical cluster performance when evaluating the
impact of different shard sizes.

[discrete]
[[oversharding-inefficient]]
=== Why oversharding is inefficient

Each segment has metadata that needs to be kept in heap memory. These include
lists of fields, the number of documents, and terms dictionaries. As a shard
grows in size, the size of its segments generally grow because smaller segments
are <<index-modules-merge,merged>> into fewer, larger segments. This typically
reduces the amount of heap required by a shard’s segment metadata for a given
data volume. At a bare minimum shards should be at least larger than 1GB to
make the most efficient use of memory. 

However, even though shards start to be more memory efficient at around 1GB,
a cluster full of 1GB shards will likely still perform poorly. This is because
having many small shards can also have a negative impact on search and
indexing operations. Each query or indexing operation is executed in a single
thread per shard of indices being queried or indexed to. The node receiving
a request from a client becomes responsible for distributing that request to
the appropriate shards as well as reducing the results from those individual
shards into a single response. Even assuming that a cluster has sufficient
<<modules-threadpool,search threadpool threads>> available to immediately
process the requested action against all shards required by the request, the
overhead associated with making network requests to the nodes holding those
shards and with having to merge the results of results from many small shards
can lead to increased latency. This in turn can lead to exhaustion of the
threadpool and, as a result, decreased throughput.

[discrete]
[[reduce-shard-counts-increase-shard-size]]
=== How to reduce shard counts and increase shard size

Try these methods to reduce oversharding.

[discrete]
[[reduce-shards-for-new-indices]]
==== Reduce the number of shards for new indices

You can specify the `index.number_of_shards` setting  for new indices created
with the <<indices-create-index,create index API>> or as part of
<<indices-templates,index templates>> for indices automatically created by
<<index-lifecycle-management,{ilm} ({ilm-init})>>.

You can override the `index.number_of_shards`  when rolling over an index
using the <<rollover-index-api-example,rollover index API>>.

[discrete]
[[create-larger-shards-by-increasing-rollover-thresholds]]
==== Create larger shards by increasing rollover thresholds

You can roll over indices using the
<<indices-rollover-index,rollover index API>> or by specifying the
<<ilm-rollover-action,rollover action>> in an {ilm-init} policy. If using an
{ilm-init} policy, increase the rollover condition thresholds (`max_age`,
  `max_docs`, `max_size`)  to allow the indices to grow to a larger size
  before being rolled over, which creates larger shards.

Take special note of any empty indices. These may be managed by an {ilm-init}
policy that is rolling over the indices because the `max_age` threshold is met.
In this case, you may need to adjust the policy to make use of the `max_docs`
or `max_size` properties to prevent the creation of these empty indices. One
example where this may happen is if one or more {beats} stop sending data. If
the {ilm-init}-managed indices for those {beats} are configured to roll over
  daily, then new, empty indices will be generated each day. Empty indices can
  be identified using the <<cat-count,cat count API>>.

[discrete]
[[create-larger-shards-with-index-patterns]]
==== Create larger shards by using index patterns spanning longer time periods

Creating indices covering longer time periods reduces index and shard counts
while increasing index sizes. For example, instead of daily indices, you can
create monthly, or even yearly indices.

If creating indices using {ls}, the 
{logstash-ref}/plugins-outputs-elasticsearch.html#plugins-outputs-elasticsearch-index[index]
property of the {es} output can be modified to a
<<date-math-index-names,date math expression>> covering a longer time period.
For example, use `logstash-%{+YYYY.MM}` instead of `logstash-%{+YYYY.MM.dd}`
to create monthly, rather than daily, indices. {beats} also lets you change the
date math expression defined in the `index` property of the {es} output, such
as for {filebeat-ref}/elasticsearch-output.html#index-option-es[Filebeat].

[discrete]
[[shrink-existing-index-to-fewer-shards]]
==== Shrink an existing index to fewer shards

You can use the <<indices-shrink-index,shrink index API>> to shrink an
existing index down to fewer shards.

<<index-lifecycle-management,{ilm}>> also has a
<<ilm-shrink-action,shrink action>> available for indices in the warm phase.

[discrete]
[[reindex-an-existing-index-to-fewer-shards]]
==== Reindex an existing index to fewer shards

You can use the <<docs-reindex,reindex API>> to reindex from an existing index
to a new index with fewer shards. After the data has been reindexed, the
oversharded index can be deleted.

[discrete]
[[reindex-indices-from-shorter-periods-into-longer-periods]]
==== Reindex indices from shorter periods into longer periods

You can use the <<docs-reindex,reindex API>> to reindex multiple small indices
covering shorter time periods into a larger index covering a longer time period.
For example, daily indices from October with naming patterns such as
`foo-2019.10.11` could be combined into a monthly `foo-2019.10` index,
like this:

[source,console]
--------------------------------------------------
POST /_reindex
{
  "source": {
    "index": "foo-2019.10.*"
  },
  "dest": {
    "index": "foo-2019.10"
  }
}
--------------------------------------------------