--- title: Create a multi-node cluster description: Create a multi-node InfluxDB 3 Enterprise cluster for high availability, performance, read replicas, and more to meet the specific needs of your use case. url: https://docs.influxdata.com/influxdb3/enterprise/get-started/multi-server/ estimated_tokens: 3602 product: InfluxDB 3 Enterprise version: enterprise publisher: InfluxData canonical: https://docs.influxdata.com/influxdb3/enterprise/get-started/multi-server/ date: '2026-05-15T15:46:14-06:00' lastmod: '2026-05-15T15:46:14-06:00' --- Create a multi-node InfluxDB 3 Enterprise cluster for high availability, performance, and workload isolation. Configure nodes with specific *modes* (ingest, query, process, compact) to optimize for your use case. ## Prerequisites * Shared object store ## Basic multi-node setup > [!Note] > The examples in this guide assume each node runs on a distinct host and uses the default port (8181). > If you run multiple nodes on the same host for testing or development, specify a different port for each node using the `--http-bind` option–for example, `--http-bind localhost:8282`. ```bash ## NODE 1 compacts stored data # Example variables # node-id: 'host01' # cluster-id: 'cluster01' # bucket: 'influxdb-3-enterprise-storage' influxdb3 serve \ --node-id host01 \ --cluster-id cluster01 \ --mode ingest,query,compact \ --object-store s3 \ --bucket influxdb-3-enterprise-storage \ --http-bind localhost:8181 \ --aws-access-key-id \ --aws-secret-access-key ``` ``` ## NODE 2 handles writes and queries # Example variables # node-id: 'host02' # cluster-id: 'cluster01' # bucket: 'influxdb-3-enterprise-storage' influxdb3 serve \ --node-id host02 \ --cluster-id cluster01 \ --mode ingest,query \ --object-store s3 \ --bucket influxdb-3-enterprise-storage \ --aws-access-key-id AWS_ACCESS_KEY_ID \ --aws-secret-access-key AWS_SECRET_ACCESS_KEY ``` Learn how to set up a multi-node cluster for different use cases, including high availability, read replicas, processing data, and workload isolation. * [Create an object store](#create-an-object-store) * [Connect to your object store](#connect-to-your-object-store) * [Server modes](#server-modes) * [Cluster configuration examples](#cluster-configuration-examples) * [Writing and querying in multi-node clusters](#writing-and-querying-in-multi-node-clusters) ## Create an object store With the InfluxDB 3 Enterprise diskless architecture, all data is stored in a common object store. In a multi-node cluster, you connect all nodes to the same object store. Enterprise supports the following object stores: * AWS S3 (or S3-compatible) * Azure Blob Storage * Google Cloud Storage > [!Note] > Refer to your object storage provider’s documentation for > setting up an object store. ## Connect to your object store When starting your InfluxDB 3 Enterprise node, include provider-specific options for connecting to your object store–for example: #### S3 or S3-compatible #### To use an AWS S3 or S3-compatible object store, provide the following options with your `influxdb3 serve` command: * `--object-store`: `s3` * `--bucket`: Your AWS S3 bucket name * `--aws-access-key-id`: Your AWS access key ID *(can also be defined using the `AWS_ACCESS_KEY_ID` environment variable)* * `--aws-secret-access-key`: Your AWS secret access key *(can also be defined using the `AWS_SECRET_ACCESS_KEY` environment variable)* ```bash influxdb3 serve \ # ... --object-store s3 \ --bucket AWS_BUCKET_NAME \ --aws-access-key-id AWS_ACCESS_KEY_ID \ --aws-secret-access-key AWS_SECRET_ACCESS_KEY ``` *For information about other S3-specific settings, see[Configuration options - AWS](/influxdb3/enterprise/reference/config-options/#aws).* To use Azure Blob Storage as your object store, provide the following options with your `influxdb3 serve` command: * `--object-store`: `azure` * `--bucket`: Your Azure Blob Storage container name * `--azure-storage-account`: Your Azure Blob Storage account name *(can also be defined using the `AZURE_STORAGE_ACCOUNT` environment variable)* * `--azure-storage-access-key`: Your Azure Blob Storage access key *(can also be defined using the `AZURE_STORAGE_ACCESS_KEY` environment variable)* ```bash influxdb3 serve \ # ... --object-store azure \ --bucket AZURE_CONTAINER_NAME \ --azure-storage-account AZURE_STORAGE_ACCOUNT \ --azure-storage-access-key AZURE_STORAGE_ACCESS_KEY ``` To use Google Cloud Storage as your object store, provide the following options with your `influxdb3 serve` command: * `--object-store`: `google` * `--bucket`: Your Google Cloud Storage bucket name * `--google-service-account`: The path to your Google credentials JSON file*(can also be defined using the `GOOGLE_SERVICE_ACCOUNT` environment variable)* ```bash influxdb3 serve \ # ... --object-store google \ --bucket GOOGLE_BUCKET_NAME \ --google-service-account GOOGLE_SERVICE_ACCOUNT ``` ## Server modes InfluxDB 3 Enterprise *modes* determine what subprocesses the Enterprise node runs. These subprocesses fulfill required tasks including data ingestion, query processing, compaction, and running the processing engine. The `influxdb3 serve --mode` option defines what subprocesses a node runs. Each node can run in one *or more* of the following modes: * **all** *(default)*: Runs all necessary subprocesses. * **ingest**: Runs the data ingestion subprocess to handle writes. * **query**: Runs the query processing subprocess to handle queries. * **process**: Runs the processing engine subprocess to trigger and execute plugins. * **compact**: Runs the compactor subprocess to optimize data in object storage. > [!Important] > Only *one* node in your cluster can run in `compact` mode. ### Server mode examples #### Configure a node to only handle write requests ```bash influxdb3 serve \ # ... --mode ingest ``` #### Configure a node to only run the Compactor ```bash influxdb3 serve \ # ... --mode compact ``` #### Configure a node to handle queries and run the processing engine ```bash influxdb3 serve \ # ... --mode query,process ``` > [!Important] > When using `process` mode, you must also specify `--plugin-dir` to configure > the Python plugin environment. Without this flag, starting a node with `process`mode will fail with an error. See the [plugin-dir configuration option](/influxdb3/enterprise/reference/config-options/#plugin-dir)for more information. ## Cluster configuration examples * [High availability cluster](#high-availability-cluster) * [High availability with a dedicated Compactor](#high-availability-with-a-dedicated-compactor) * [High availability with read replicas and a dedicated Compactor](#high-availability-with-read-replicas-and-a-dedicated-compactor) ### High availability cluster A minimum of two nodes are required for basic high availability (HA), with both nodes reading and writing data. Basic high availability setup In a basic HA setup: * Two nodes both write data to the same object store and both handle queries * Node 1 and Node 2 are *read replicas* that read from each other’s object store directories * One of the nodes is designated as the Compactor node > [!Note] > Only one node can be designated as the Compactor. > Compacted data is meant for a single writer, and many readers. The following examples show how to configure and start two nodes for a basic HA setup. * *Node 1* is for compaction * *Node 2* is for ingest and query ```bash ## NODE 1 # Example variables # node-id: 'host01' # cluster-id: 'cluster01' # bucket: 'influxdb-3-enterprise-storage' influxdb3 serve \ --node-id host01 \ --cluster-id cluster01 \ --mode ingest,query,compact \ --object-store s3 \ --bucket influxdb-3-enterprise-storage \ --http-bind localhost:8181 \ --aws-access-key-id \ --aws-secret-access-key ``` ```bash ## NODE 2 # Example variables # node-id: 'host02' # cluster-id: 'cluster01' # bucket: 'influxdb-3-enterprise-storage' influxdb3 serve \ --node-id host02 \ --cluster-id cluster01 \ --mode ingest,query \ --object-store s3 \ --bucket influxdb-3-enterprise-storage \ --aws-access-key-id AWS_ACCESS_KEY_ID \ --aws-secret-access-key AWS_SECRET_ACCESS_KEY ``` After the nodes have started, querying either node returns data for both nodes, and *NODE 1* runs compaction. To add nodes to this setup, start more read replicas with the same cluster ID. ### High availability with a dedicated Compactor Data compaction in InfluxDB 3 Enterprise is one of the more computationally demanding operations. To ensure stable performance in ingest and query nodes, set up a compactor-only node to isolate the compaction workload. Dedicated Compactor setup The following examples sets up high availability with a dedicated Compactor node: 1. Start two read-write nodes as read replicas, similar to the previous example. ``` ## NODE 1 — Writer/Reader Node #1 # Example variables # node-id: 'host01' # cluster-id: 'cluster01' # bucket: 'influxdb-3-enterprise-storage' influxdb3 serve \ --node-id host01 \ --cluster-id cluster01 \ --mode ingest,query \ --object-store s3 \ --bucket influxdb-3-enterprise-storage \ --http-bind localhost:8181 \ --aws-access-key-id \ --aws-secret-access-key ``` ``` ## NODE 2 — Writer/Reader Node #2 # Example variables # node-id: 'host02' # cluster-id: 'cluster01' # bucket: 'influxdb-3-enterprise-storage' influxdb3 serve \ --node-id host02 \ --cluster-id cluster01 \ --mode ingest,query \ --object-store s3 \ --bucket influxdb-3-enterprise-storage \ --aws-access-key-id \ --aws-secret-access-key ``` 2. Start the dedicated compactor node with the `--mode=compact` option to ensure the node **only** runs compaction. ``` ## NODE 3 — Compactor Node # Example variables # node-id: 'host03' # cluster-id: 'cluster01' # bucket: 'influxdb-3-enterprise-storage' influxdb3 serve \ --node-id host03 \ --cluster-id cluster01 \ --mode compact \ --object-store s3 \ --bucket influxdb-3-enterprise-storage \ --aws-access-key-id \ --aws-secret-access-key ``` ### High availability with read replicas and a dedicated Compactor For a robust and effective setup for managing time-series data, you can run ingest nodes alongside query nodes and a dedicated Compactor node. Workload Isolation Setup 1. Start ingest nodes with the **`ingest`** mode. > [!Note] > Send all write requests to only your ingest nodes. ``` ## NODE 1 — Writer Node #1 # Example variables # node-id: 'host01' # cluster-id: 'cluster01' # bucket: 'influxdb-3-enterprise-storage' influxdb3 serve \ --node-id host01 \ --cluster-id cluster01 \ --mode ingest \ --object-store s3 \ --bucket influxdb-3-enterprise-storage \ --http-bind localhost:8181 \ --aws-access-key-id \ --aws-secret-access-key ``` ``` ## NODE 2 — Writer Node #2 # Example variables # node-id: 'host02' # cluster-id: 'cluster01' # bucket: 'influxdb-3-enterprise-storage' influxdb3 serve \ --node-id host02 \ --cluster-id cluster01 \ --mode ingest \ --object-store s3 \ --bucket influxdb-3-enterprise-storage \ --aws-access-key-id \ --aws-secret-access-key ``` 2. Start the dedicated Compactor node with the `compact` mode. ``` ## NODE 3 — Compactor Node # Example variables # node-id: 'host03' # cluster-id: 'cluster01' # bucket: 'influxdb-3-enterprise-storage' influxdb3 serve \ --node-id host03 \ --cluster-id cluster01 \ --mode compact \ --object-store s3 \ --bucket influxdb-3-enterprise-storage \ --aws-access-key-id \ ``` 3. Finally, start the query nodes using the `query` mode. > [!Note] > Send all query requests to only your query nodes. ``` ## NODE 4 — Read Node #1 # Example variables # node-id: 'host04' # cluster-id: 'cluster01' # bucket: 'influxdb-3-enterprise-storage' influxdb3 serve \ --node-id host04 \ --cluster-id cluster01 \ --mode query \ --object-store s3 \ --bucket influxdb-3-enterprise-storage \ --aws-access-key-id \ --aws-secret-access-key ``` ``` ## NODE 5 — Read Node #2 # Example variables # node-id: 'host05' # cluster-id: 'cluster01' # bucket: 'influxdb-3-enterprise-storage' influxdb3 serve \ --node-id host05 \ --cluster-id cluster01 \ --mode query \ --object-store s3 \ --bucket influxdb-3-enterprise-storage \ --aws-access-key-id \ ``` ## Writing and querying in multi-node clusters You can use the default port `8181` for any write or query request without changing any of the commands. #### Specify hosts for write and query requests To benefit from this multi-node, isolated architecture: * Send write requests to a node that you have designated as an ingester. * Send query requests to a node that you have designated as a querier. When running multiple local instances for testing or separate nodes in production, specifying the host ensures writes and queries are routed to the correct instance. ```bash # Example querying a specific host # HTTP-bound Port: 8585 influxdb3 query \ --host http://localhost:8585 --token AUTH_TOKEN \ --database DATABASE_NAME \ "QUERY" ``` Replace the following placeholders with your values: * `http://localhost:8585`: the host and port of the node to query * `AUTH_TOKEN`: your [database token](/influxdb3/enterprise/admin/tokens/)with permission to query the specified database * `DATABASE_NAME`: the name of the database to query * `QUERY`: the SQL or InfluxQL query to run against the database [Set up InfluxDB](/influxdb3/enterprise/get-started/setup/)[Write data](/influxdb3/enterprise/get-started/write/) #### Related * [Upgrade InfluxDB 3 Enterprise](/influxdb3/enterprise/admin/upgrade/) [cluster](/influxdb3/enterprise/tags/cluster/)[multi-node](/influxdb3/enterprise/tags/multi-node/)[multi-server](/influxdb3/enterprise/tags/multi-server/)