Is aws elasticsearch SysMemoryUtilization metric accurate?

Question

I use the AWS elasticsearch service. There is no much data is stored. I use m3.large.elasticsearch instance type. When I check the Maximum memory utilization (SysMemoryUtilization) metric, it is always about 90%. I guess this is the memory usage ratio of elasticsearch instance. Does this mean I need to enlarge my instance memory? Actually, I wondered whether this metric is accurate. Does anyone meet the same situation?

Previously, my elasticsearch instance type is t2.small, the SysMemoryUtilization is almost 90%. I changed the instance type to m3.large.elasticsearch but the SysMemoryUtilization still keeps being almost 90%.

see the SysMemoryUtilization: https://i.stack.imgur.com/PMt2Z.png

Answer 1

yes, it is accurate.

actually, JVM will get all memory needed from OS and use it when if elasticsearch needed. JVM memory is called HEAP and you can check it via this command:

curl -XGET [ES-IP-MASTER]:9200/_cat/nodes?v

you should check HEAP percentage usage and it is dangerous if heap 90% utilized.