ELASTICSEARCH

Elasticsearch Tiered Storage Explained

intro

This blog will walk readers through Elasticsearch tiered storage solutions available for that technology. Dig in with us!

Are you an Elasticsearch user? If you are, you will certainly be aware of its so-called “tiered storage” offering: the concept of Elasticsearch tiered storage has to do with the way we manage our database infrastructure. Such a strategy allows companies to optimize costs and database performance by storing large volumes of data in “data tiers.”

What is Elasticsearch Tiered Storage?

Elasticsearch tiered storage refers to “data tiers”: simply put, they are a collection of data nodes within a database cluster that share the same profile of hardware. Data tiers can take the following forms:

  • Content data tier — such data nodes are used to handle queries related to content-based solutions, such as forums.
  • Hot tier — this tiered storage data nodes are used to hold “the most recent” (hence the name: the data still needs to be considered “hot”) data, logs, etc.
  • Warm tier — such a data node would be used to hold data that’s accessed, but accessed not as frequently to necessitate the above two tiers.
  • Cold tier — this data nodes hold data that’s “cold” and not frequently accessed or updated and thus, can be considered “cold.”
  • Frozen tier — data in the frozen tier of the Elasticsearch tiered storage is almost never accessed or updated.

Note: To configure the role of a data node, please modify the Elasticsearch configuration file found at Elasticsearch.yml.

When to Use Elasticsearch Tiered Storage?

Consider you’re already well-acquainted with using tiered storage in Elasticsearch.

Now, not every use case may necessitate the usage of Elasticsearch tiered storage solutions, and that’s OK. Yet, if you’re dealing with use cases such as logging, SIEM (Security Information and Event Management) or security operations or even performance monitoring, the upsides of ElasticSearch tiered storage become as clear as water: the tiered storage solution allows us to derive a business-driven data strategy and split data into categories according to it!

If you have less than a couple million rows, such a strategy may not mean much, however, once your data gets bigger, you will certainly see the full benefit of tiered storage within Elasticsearch.

Elasticsearch themselves like to provide examples of customers that deal with a lot of data, so we’ll do that too: imagine you work with a project that processes terabytes of data in a single day.

Depending on your use case, your project could be working with hundreds of thousands of events per second, and with a volume this high, you would obviously need to categorize everything you have to the max. That’s what Elasticsearch tiered storage does. It enables you to:

  • Utilize resources and licenses to the max — while pushing resources to the limit may not be an optimal solution, in many use cases this can save you from unnecessary costs, whether time-based or monetary.
  • Increase business efficiency — Elasticsearch tiered storage allows to find data quickly & efficiently. You already know what category your data falls into so you don’t have to dig through the others!
  • Quickly ingest, store, and work on data — perhaps the biggest upside of the tiered storage solution offered by Elasticsearch is that it allows developers to quickly ingest, store and work on data. Since different regulations may necessitate different data retention periods, moving data to a different tiered storage unit will help save time and resources and make your application adhere to regulations as well. Win-win, isn’t it?

In a nutshell, tiered storage in Elasticsearch isn’t for everyone (not everyone will have use cases where they need to store data in different tiers specified by Elasticsearch). However, after we understand its benefits for our business and/or use case, we can better understand whether we should use it or not.

With that said, keep in mind that various data tiers are only one piece of the puzzle — if you have a database (and if you’re reading this blog post, you probably work with one frequently), you also have other things to care about.

Thankfully, DbVisualizer provides you with a powerful enough toolset to enable you to take care of your database no matter what happens.

Features Provided by DbVisualizer

DbVisualizer is home to many different features that each have an impact on your day-to-day operations. These include, but are not limited to:

  • Intelligent autocomplete will ensure that your queries are completed automatically and run seamlessly without syntax errors.
  • Query formatting will ensure that you’re not working with queries that make you gauge your eyes out.
  • The ability to export data sets in a variety of different formats means that you will no longer worry about having an incorrect data format that you work with.

DbVisualizer is also tailored to your workflow, meaning that you will be able to connect to one of the supported data sources and work with them without exiting the tool. DbVisualizer will not only provide you with the length of the data types in question (see example below), but also do so without obstructing your daily tasks such as executing queries that bring your customers value. Try DbVisualizer for free for 21 days and let us know what you think!

The left side of the SQL editor in DbVisualizer. Data Types in Different Tables
The left side of the SQL editor in DbVisualizer. Data Types in Different Tables

Summary

ElasticSearch tiered storage refers to collections of data nodes within a database cluster that share the same hardware profile. e.g., we store data that we no longer use in a frozen tier, data that’s accessed infrequently in a warm tier, and “hot”, ever-changing data like logs in the hot tier. For in-depth explanations about what the tiers mean for you and your data strategy, refer to the explanations above.

At the same time, tiered storage in Elasticsearch isn’t the holy grail — it needs to be used in combination with your data strategy, and, if necessary, in concert with your database management system.

Stay in touch with us by reading our blog over at TheTable, attend industry events and read books about database management systems to keep your knowledge up to date, and until next time.

FAQ

What is Elasticsearch tiered storage and when should I use it?

Elasticsearch tiered storage refers to a collection of data nodes within a database cluster that share the same profile of hardware. Data that we no longer use gets into the “cold” profile, frequently accessed data gets into the “hot” profile, and so on.

How to Configure the Role of a Data Node within Elasticsearch?

To configure the role of a data node, please modify the Elasticsearch configuration file found at Elasticsearch.yml.

Why Should I Use DbVisualizer?

Consider using DbVisualizer because it’s the SQL client with the highest user satisfaction according to multiple sources like G2.com, has millions of users, and is home to a lot of powerful features, too! Grab a free trial today.

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About the author
LukasVileikisPhoto
Lukas Vileikis
Lukas Vileikis is an ethical hacker and a frequent conference speaker. He runs one of the biggest & fastest data breach search engines in the world - BreachDirectory.com, frequently speaks at conferences and blogs in multiple places including his blog over at lukasvileikis.com.
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