---
title: Dedicated Master Nodes
description: Describes what AutoOps detects and surfaces with the Dedicated Master Nodes insight: One or more data nodes also perform master duties under load.
url: https://docs-v3-preview.elastic.dev/elastic/autoops-insights/tree/main/elasticsearch/dedicated_master_nodes
products:
  - Elastic Cloud Enterprise
  - Elastic Cloud Hosted
  - Elastic Cloud on Kubernetes
  - Elasticsearch
applies_to:
  - Elastic Cloud Hosted: Generally available
  - Elastic Cloud on Kubernetes: Generally available
  - Elastic Cloud Enterprise: Generally available
  - Self-managed Elastic deployments: Generally available
---

# Dedicated Master Nodes
One or more data nodes also perform master duties under load. The master role manages cluster metadata; when it competes with heavy indexing or search, management tasks can lag and stability suffers.
<note>
  For a complete list of insights, refer to [AutoOps insights](https://docs-v3-preview.elastic.dev/elastic/autoops-insights/tree/main/elasticsearch).
</note>


## Insight details


| Field     | Value                                         |
|-----------|-----------------------------------------------|
| Component | Elasticsearch                                 |
| Severity  | Low                                           |
| Scope     | Cluster                                       |
| Domains   | performance, configuration, high-availability |


## Customization settings

You can customize these settings to adjust when AutoOps detects this event and presents the insight. Refer to [AutoOps event settings](https://docs-v3-preview.elastic.dev/elastic/docs-content/tree/main/deploy-manage/monitor/autoops/ec-autoops-event-settings) for details.
The default customization settings are:

| Setting                                                      | Type    | Default |
|--------------------------------------------------------------|---------|---------|
| Minimum data nodes count to introduce dedicated master nodes | Integer | 4       |


## Example: What you might see in AutoOps

The following is an example of what you might see when this insight is triggered. Real insights use live data and links from your deployment or cluster.

### It is recommended to add dedicated master nodes


#### What was detected

Number of data nodes that have master roles:12

#### Recommendations

<note>
  AutoOps shows different recommendations depending on how their conditions match your deployment or cluster.
</note>

<dropdown title="Add dedicated master nodes">
  **Condition**: Always shown for this insight.Add three dedicated master nodes so the cluster stays quorum-safe if one master restarts or disconnects.
</dropdown>


#### Background and impact

Impact: Clusters become unstable when they are under heavy load.
If the master node has to carry out indexing and search operations in addition to its regular tasks, it might end up with insufficient resources to perform and monitor other operations that are crucial for cluster stability, such as creating or deleting indices, deciding which shards should be allocated on which nodes, and maintaining the cluster state on each of the nodes.