---
title: Dedicated coordinating nodes
description: Describes what AutoOps detects and surfaces with the Dedicated coordinating nodes insight: Your cluster has enough data nodes that dedicated coordinating nodes are recommended, and none were detected.
url: https://www.elastic.co/docs/reference/autoops-insights/elasticsearch/dedicated_coordinating_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 coordinating nodes
Your cluster has enough data nodes that dedicated coordinating nodes are recommended, and none were detected. Coordinating-only nodes route search and indexing traffic so data nodes are not also the sole entry points for client load.
<note>
  For a complete list of insights, refer to [AutoOps insights](https://www.elastic.co/docs/reference/autoops-insights/elasticsearch).
</note>


## Insight details


| Field     | Value                       |
|-----------|-----------------------------|
| Component | Elasticsearch               |
| Severity  | Low                         |
| Scope     | Cluster                     |
| Domains   | performance, node-lifecycle |


## 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-demo.elastic.dev/docs/deploy-manage/monitor/autoops/ec-autoops-event-settings) for details.
The default customization settings are:

| Setting                                                           | Type    | Default |
|-------------------------------------------------------------------|---------|---------|
| Minimum data node count to recommend dedicated coordinating nodes | Integer | `5`     |


## 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.

### Dedicated coordinating nodes are recommended


#### What was detected

Your cluster has at least as many data nodes as your configured minimum for this insight (default 5), and no dedicated coordinating-only nodes were detected.

#### Recommendations

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

<dropdown title="Add dedicated coordinating nodes">
  **Condition**: Always shown for this insight.Add two or three coordinating-only nodes and route searches and indexing through them to offload data nodes.
</dropdown>


#### Background and impact

Coordinating nodes fan out search and indexing requests to the right data nodes and gather responses. In larger clusters, sending all client traffic through data nodes can create hot spots and uneven load.
Dedicated coordinating-only nodes spread that traffic and keep coordination work off data-heavy nodes. Without them, some data nodes can absorb most query and bulk load while others stay quieter.