Getting ready

You need a working ElasticSearch cluster.

How it works…

ElasticSearch is designed to be used as a RESTful server, so the main protocol is HTTP usually on port 9200 and above. Thus, it allows using different protocols such as native and thrift ones. Many others are available as extension plugins, but they are seldom used, such as memcached one.

Every protocol has weak and strong points, it's important to choose the correct one depending on the kind of applications you are developing. If you are in doubt, choose the HTTP protocol layer that is the most standard and easy to use one.

Choosing the right protocol depends on several factors, mainly architectural and performance related. This schema factorizes advantages and disadvantages related to them. If you are using it to communicate with Elasticsearch, the official clients switching from a protocol to another one is generally a simple setting in the client initialization. Refer to the following table which shows protocols and their advantages, disadvantages, and types: