---
title: High memory-to-disk ratio on cold nodes
description: Describes what AutoOps detects and surfaces with the High memory-to-disk ratio on cold nodes insight: Cold-tier data nodes show a higher memory-to-disk ratio than the recommended range for that role.
url: https://docs-v3-preview.elastic.dev/elastic/autoops-insights/tree/main/elasticsearch/high_memory_to_disk_ratio_on_cold_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
---

# High memory-to-disk ratio on cold nodes
Cold-tier data nodes show a higher memory-to-disk ratio than the recommended range for that role. Extra heap on rarely queried cold data increases cost without proportional search benefit.
<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     | Node                         |
| Domains   | memory, resource-utilization |


## 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 |
|---------------------------------------------------------|---------|---------|
| Disk-to-memory ratio threshold for cold-tier data nodes | Integer | `300`   |


## 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.

### Memory-to-disk ratio is high on cold nodes


#### What was detected

The memory-to-disk ratio is higher than needed on the following cold nodes: `es-data-01` and `es-data-02`.
For example, on es-data-01, allocated memory is 64 GB and allocated disk is 10240 GB, a memory-to-disk ratio of 1:160. A common target ratio for cold nodes is 1:160.

#### Recommendations

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

<dropdown title="Reduce node memory capacity">
  **Condition**: Always shown for this insight.To improve your memory-to-disk ratio, move cold nodes from 64 GB to 16 GB by selecting instances with less memory.
</dropdown>

<dropdown title="Reduce data node count">
  **Condition**: Always shown for this insight.Reduce the number of data nodes and increase disk allocated per remaining node accordingly.
</dropdown>


#### Background and impact

The memory-to-disk ratio compares heap size to disk capacity on a node. When the ratio is higher than the target for that role or tier, you pay for RAM that the disk-backed workload does not need.
Cold tiers store older data that is searched less often. They can run with much less heap per disk than hot tiers. Extra memory rarely improves cold-tier query performance enough to justify the spend.
If the condition persists, cloud or license cost stays elevated without a matching gain in search or indexing capacity.