Installation and data directories

The installation program creates the installation directory and the data directory. You cannot relocate these directories after Watson Content Analytics is installed.

Data storage architecture
To run your Watson Content Analytics system, use high speed local storage devices. If you prefer network storage, then for performance and data integrity, use storage area network (SAN) devices that are not shared between Watson Content Analytics servers. If network storage must be shared between Watson Content Analytics servers to save storage space, the IBM General Parallel File System (GPFS) data storage architecture, although potentially slower, is also supported. The following issues can occur if you install the product on a network file system (NFS) architecture:
  • Data integrity issues. Data might not always be saved correctly because of occasional network errors.
  • Performance issues. NFS has network protocol costs and latency is high. These issues can negatively affect performance, especially search performance.
Installation directory
The installation directory contains files such as executable files and default files that do not change when the system is running. You can change the default installation directory, but for a multiple server installation, use the same installation directory path on all servers. The installation program creates the ES_INSTALL_ROOT environment variable for the installation directory, and the documentation uses ES_INSTALL_ROOT to represent the installation directory.
Default paths for the installation directory:
  • AIX®: /opt/IBM/es
  • Linux: /opt/IBM/es
  • Windows (32-bit): C:\Program Files\IBM\es
  • Windows (64-bit): C:\Program Files (x86)\IBM\es
If you install the product as a non-root user, these are the default installation directory paths:
  • AIX: user_home_directory/es
  • Linux: user_home_directory/es
  • Windows: user_home_directory\es

If you do not use the default paths on AIX or Linux, ensure that the path that you specify for the data directory does not contain spaces in the path name. In all environments, ensure that the path does not include a trailing path delimiter (slash character). For example, if you specify C:\Program Files\IBM\es\esadmin\ on Windows, or /opt/IBM/es/esadmin/ on AIX, the system does not start.

The path name cannot contain characters from the double byte character set (DBCS). Only ASCII characters 0x2F through 0x7E are supported. The following ASCII characters are not allowed: 
!  " # $  % & ' ( ) * + , - .
Data directory
The data directory contains files such as configuration files and data files that the system updates regularly. Dedicate the largest file partition or disk space on your system to the data directory. The installation program creates the ES_NODE_ROOT environment variable for the data directory, and the documentation uses ES_NODE_ROOT to represent the data directory.
The default path for the data directory is in a subdirectory of the installation directory that matches the ID that you specify for the administrator ID. For example, if you specify esadmin as the administrator ID, these are the default data directory paths:
  • AIX: /opt/IBM/es/esadmin/esdata
  • Linux: /opt/IBM/es/esadmin/esdata
  • Windows (32-bit): C:\Program Files\IBM\es\esadmin
  • Windows (64-bit): C:\Program Files (x86)\IBM\es\esadmin
If you install the product as a non-root user, these are the default data directory paths:
  • AIX: user_home_directory/esdata
  • Linux: user_home_directory/esdata
  • Windows: user_home_directory\es\esadmin

If you do not use the default paths on AIX or Linux, ensure that the path that you specify for the data directory does not contain spaces in the path name. In all environments, ensure that the path does not include a trailing path delimiter (slash character). For example, if you specify C:\Program Files\IBM\es\esadmin\ on Windows, or /opt/IBM/es/esadmin/ on AIX, the system does not start.

The path name cannot contain characters from the double byte character set (DBCS). Only ASCII characters 0x2F through 0x7E are supported. The following ASCII characters are not allowed: 
!  " # $  % & ' ( ) * + , - .