dataDir parameter in solr

Question

Working with Solr 3.6. On solrconfig.xml there is a dataDir parameter which asks to specify an alternate directory to hold all index data other than the default.

Is it for backup or something else? What performance impact it may have? And is it considered as the best practices?

Answer 1

dataDir is the directory where Solr will store your index data (by default it goes under ./data in your Solr home directory). You can use this to set a different path. It is not a backup. More information here.

It is unlikely to have a performance impact. Unless perhaps you point it to another mount point in your filesystem that is on a faster disk.

I would say best practice is to have the dataDir outside your Solr home directory so that you can upgrade Solr without having to worry about where your data live. And it is useful if you have multiple disks on your server.