# Optimizing OpenSearch vector storage and search for faster AI applications ![Optimizing OpenSearch course featured image](https://www.instaclustr.com/wp-content/uploads/OpenSearch_course_titlecard-full-1.png) [ AI ](https://www.instaclustr.com/course-category/ai/) [ OpenSearch ](https://www.instaclustr.com/course-category/opensearch/) [ Vector search ](https://www.instaclustr.com/course-category/vector-search/) [ Vector storage ](https://www.instaclustr.com/course-category/vector-storage/) Optimizing OpenSearch vector storage and search for faster AI applications =========================================================================== [ ![NetApp Instaclustr](https://secure.gravatar.com/avatar/09f4986a3ed2bf995149593c803b3bcf2e0a601846ef1ccc390952f56fd0ba7f?s=96&d=mm&r=g "NetApp Instaclustr") ](https://www.instaclustr.com/blog/instructor/netapp-instaclustr/?post_type=mto-course) [ NetApp Instaclustr ](https://www.instaclustr.com/blog/instructor/netapp-instaclustr/?post_type=mto-course) 5 (4) Overview Curriculum Reviews - 8 Sections - 31 Lessons - 6 Quizzes - 2h Duration Collapse All ##### Course Introduction 1 Lesson 1. [ Course Introduction ](https://www.instaclustr.com/learn/course/optimizing-opensearch-vector-storage-and-search-for-faster-ai-applications#/course/19442/lesson/19452) ##### Chapter 1: Configuring and Optimizing Vector Search in OpenSearch 6 Lessons1 Quiz 1. [ Introduction ](https://www.instaclustr.com/learn/course/optimizing-opensearch-vector-storage-and-search-for-faster-ai-applications#/course/19442/lesson/19476) 2. [ Lesson 1: Vector search settings ](https://www.instaclustr.com/learn/course/optimizing-opensearch-vector-storage-and-search-for-faster-ai-applications#/course/19442/lesson/19477) 3. [ Lesson 2: Choosing the right type of vector search ](https://www.instaclustr.com/learn/course/optimizing-opensearch-vector-storage-and-search-for-faster-ai-applications#/course/19442/lesson/19478) 4. [ Lesson 3: GPUs vs CPUs in OpenSearch ](https://www.instaclustr.com/learn/course/optimizing-opensearch-vector-storage-and-search-for-faster-ai-applications#/course/19442/lesson/19480) 5. [ Lesson 4: Vector storage and search optimizations ](https://www.instaclustr.com/learn/course/optimizing-opensearch-vector-storage-and-search-for-faster-ai-applications#/course/19442/lesson/19481) 6. [ Conclusion ](https://www.instaclustr.com/learn/course/optimizing-opensearch-vector-storage-and-search-for-faster-ai-applications#/course/19442/lesson/19479) 7. [ Chapter 1: Exam ](https://www.instaclustr.com/learn/course/optimizing-opensearch-vector-storage-and-search-for-faster-ai-applications#/course/19442/quiz/19486) ##### Chapter 2: Neural Search Pipelines 6 Lessons1 Quiz 1. [ Introduction ](https://www.instaclustr.com/learn/course/optimizing-opensearch-vector-storage-and-search-for-faster-ai-applications#/course/19442/lesson/19475) 2. [ Lesson 1: Setting up your pipeline ](https://www.instaclustr.com/learn/course/optimizing-opensearch-vector-storage-and-search-for-faster-ai-applications#/course/19442/lesson/19474) 3. [ Lesson 2: Ingesting Data and Running Queries ](https://www.instaclustr.com/learn/course/optimizing-opensearch-vector-storage-and-search-for-faster-ai-applications#/course/19442/lesson/19473) 4. [ Lesson 3: Choosing Your Text Embedding Processor ](https://www.instaclustr.com/learn/course/optimizing-opensearch-vector-storage-and-search-for-faster-ai-applications#/course/19442/lesson/19472) 5. [ Lesson 4: AI Model Management with ML Commons ](https://www.instaclustr.com/learn/course/optimizing-opensearch-vector-storage-and-search-for-faster-ai-applications#/course/19442/lesson/19471) 6. [ Conclusion ](https://www.instaclustr.com/learn/course/optimizing-opensearch-vector-storage-and-search-for-faster-ai-applications#/course/19442/lesson/19470) 7. [ Chapter 2: Exam ](https://www.instaclustr.com/learn/course/optimizing-opensearch-vector-storage-and-search-for-faster-ai-applications#/course/19442/quiz/19485) ##### Chapter 3: Mastering Hybrid Search in OpenSearch 5 Lessons1 Quiz 1. [ Introduction ](https://www.instaclustr.com/learn/course/optimizing-opensearch-vector-storage-and-search-for-faster-ai-applications#/course/19442/lesson/19469) 2. [ Lesson 1: Why Hybrid Search Matters ](https://www.instaclustr.com/learn/course/optimizing-opensearch-vector-storage-and-search-for-faster-ai-applications#/course/19442/lesson/19468) 3. [ Lesson 2: Creating Your Own Hybrid Search in OpenSearch ](https://www.instaclustr.com/learn/course/optimizing-opensearch-vector-storage-and-search-for-faster-ai-applications#/course/19442/lesson/19467) 4. [ Lesson 3: Enhance Search Accuracy with Reciprocal Rank Fusion ](https://www.instaclustr.com/learn/course/optimizing-opensearch-vector-storage-and-search-for-faster-ai-applications#/course/19442/lesson/19466) 5. [ Conclusion ](https://www.instaclustr.com/learn/course/optimizing-opensearch-vector-storage-and-search-for-faster-ai-applications#/course/19442/lesson/19465) 6. [ Chapter 3: Exam ](https://www.instaclustr.com/learn/course/optimizing-opensearch-vector-storage-and-search-for-faster-ai-applications#/course/19442/quiz/19484) ##### Chapter 4: Performance meets precision: RAG optimization in OpenSearch 6 Lessons1 Quiz 1. [ Introduction ](https://www.instaclustr.com/learn/course/optimizing-opensearch-vector-storage-and-search-for-faster-ai-applications#/course/19442/lesson/19464) 2. [ Lesson 1: Optimizing RAG Pipelines in OpenSearch ](https://www.instaclustr.com/learn/course/optimizing-opensearch-vector-storage-and-search-for-faster-ai-applications#/course/19442/lesson/19463) 3. [ Lesson 2: Optimizing Indexes for RAG pipelines ](https://www.instaclustr.com/learn/course/optimizing-opensearch-vector-storage-and-search-for-faster-ai-applications#/course/19442/lesson/19462) 4. [ Lesson 3: Query optimization for RAG pipelines ](https://www.instaclustr.com/learn/course/optimizing-opensearch-vector-storage-and-search-for-faster-ai-applications#/course/19442/lesson/19461) 5. [ Lesson 4: OpenSearch MCP server ](https://www.instaclustr.com/learn/course/optimizing-opensearch-vector-storage-and-search-for-faster-ai-applications#/course/19442/lesson/19460) 6. [ Conclusion ](https://www.instaclustr.com/learn/course/optimizing-opensearch-vector-storage-and-search-for-faster-ai-applications#/course/19442/lesson/19459) 7. [ Chapter 4: Exam ](https://www.instaclustr.com/learn/course/optimizing-opensearch-vector-storage-and-search-for-faster-ai-applications#/course/19442/quiz/19483) ##### Chapter 5: Production Optimizations for OpenSearch clusters 6 Lessons1 Quiz 1. [ Introduction ](https://www.instaclustr.com/learn/course/optimizing-opensearch-vector-storage-and-search-for-faster-ai-applications#/course/19442/lesson/19458) 2. [ Lesson 1: Shards: optimizing, merging, and shard balancing ](https://www.instaclustr.com/learn/course/optimizing-opensearch-vector-storage-and-search-for-faster-ai-applications#/course/19442/lesson/19457) 3. [ Lesson 2: Index optimization for performance and storage efficiency ](https://www.instaclustr.com/learn/course/optimizing-opensearch-vector-storage-and-search-for-faster-ai-applications#/course/19442/lesson/19456) 4. [ Lesson 3: Optimizing for Vector Storage and search in OpenSearch ](https://www.instaclustr.com/learn/course/optimizing-opensearch-vector-storage-and-search-for-faster-ai-applications#/course/19442/lesson/19455) 5. [ Lesson 4: Creating secure, resilient OpenSearch AI applications ](https://www.instaclustr.com/learn/course/optimizing-opensearch-vector-storage-and-search-for-faster-ai-applications#/course/19442/lesson/19454) 6. [ Lesson 5: Mastering OpenSearch Query Optimization ](https://www.instaclustr.com/learn/course/optimizing-opensearch-vector-storage-and-search-for-faster-ai-applications#/course/19442/lesson/19453) 7. [ Chapter 5: Exam ](https://www.instaclustr.com/learn/course/optimizing-opensearch-vector-storage-and-search-for-faster-ai-applications#/course/19442/quiz/19482) ##### Hands-on Lab 1 Quiz 1. [ Hands-On Lab ](https://www.instaclustr.com/learn/course/optimizing-opensearch-vector-storage-and-search-for-faster-ai-applications#/course/19442/quiz/19766) ##### Course Conclusion 1 Lesson 1. [ Course Conclusion ](https://www.instaclustr.com/learn/course/optimizing-opensearch-vector-storage-and-search-for-faster-ai-applications#/course/19442/lesson/19451) Welcome to *Optimizing OpenSearch Vector Storage and Search for Faster AI Applications*. If you're here, you already know the fundamentals of OpenSearch. You've stood up clusters, indexed data, and run queries. This course goes beyond those basics to help you master the new realities of AI-driven search. Today, users don’t type keywords - they ask complex questions and expect systems to understand intent. That shifts your OpenSearch deployment into more than a search engine. It becomes a vector database, an embedding store, and with the ML Commons plugin, a platform capable of running inference directly in your search pipelines. This course gives you the skills to engineer for that shift. You’ll learn how to choose the right algorithm, how to size and shard clusters for vector data, and when to make trade-offs between approximate and exact search. Throughout this course, you’ll work hands-on with APIs, configurations, vector indexes, neural search pipelines, and RAG optimization strategies. With NetApp Instaclustr powering your environment, you can focus on experimenting and learning while the platform manages provisioning, scaling, patching, and security. Whether you’re deploying on-premises or in the cloud, Instaclustr provides a reliable, streamlined setup of your open source data infrastructure that lets you get straight to the technical work without the operational overhead. By the end of this course, you’ll understand not only what to optimize, but why. And you’ll have the practical skills and confidence to architect OpenSearch for today’s AI-driven search workloads. Let’s get started! 5 = 4 Ratings 5 Star 100% 4 Star 0% 3 Star 0% 2 Star 0% 1 Star 0% Want to submit a review? [Login](https://www.instaclustr.com/account/) ### Reviews Search All Ratings Five Star Four Star Three Star Two Star One Star - ![zc91294](https://secure.gravatar.com/avatar/d59e214d493b548da721635cf219e2408e60a5377bfa4a04201f39ae5f92a1d0?s=96&d=mm&r=g) zc91294 Aug 9, 2026 @ 12:13 am##### Deepens OpenSearch understanding, from fundamentals to modern AI use cases As a developer who recently joined the OpenSearch team at NetApp Instaclustr, I found this course tremendously helpful. It covers fundamentals that matter day to day, like shard management and index optimization, while also framing topics from a customer perspective. Modern topics such as MCP and agents show how OpenSearch fits into current AI workflows. Altogether, it gave me a deeper understanding of OpenSearch and the use cases we support. [ Reply ](javascript:;) **Reply to zc91294** Cancel Reply - ![anbazhagnetapp-com](https://secure.gravatar.com/avatar/74e8fbe68c808f46edac6fae11c9ed4ed53a424c0a4782e91e932d55544c48db?s=96&d=mm&r=g) anbazhagnetapp-com Aug 8, 2026 @ 5:35 am##### Great foundation for OpenSearch users building AI search apps As someone new to OpenSearch, I found this course surprisingly approachable and very useful. I came in knowing little about vector search, neural pipelines, or RAG, and the structure made it easy to build understanding step by step. The course starts with the fundamentals of configuring and optimizing vector search, then moves into neural search pipelines, hybrid search, RAG optimization, and finally production cluster considerations. That progression worked well for me as a beginner — each chapter built on the previous one without assuming deep prior expertise. What helped most: Clear explanations of core concepts before diving into more advanced topics Practical focus across vector storage, hybrid search, and RAG Quizzes after each chapter that reinforced what I learned Coverage of production optimizations, which helped me see how these ideas apply beyond demos Even though the course goes into advanced areas, it stayed understandable for a newbie. I now feel much more confident exploring OpenSearch for AI-powered search use cases. Overall, this is a strong course for anyone who wants solid, practical knowledge into optimizing OpenSearch vector storage and search. [ Reply ](javascript:;) **Reply to anbazhagnetapp-com** Cancel Reply - ![waltribeiro-instacademy](https://secure.gravatar.com/avatar/e4d97f661252c05c94a667bc246594cf71b9e671928c73984634cd8677fc5673?s=96&d=mm&r=g) waltribeiro-instacademy Aug 7, 2026 @ 5:07 pm##### It was great! I learned a lot and the course was easy to follow along. [ Reply ](javascript:;) **Reply to waltribeiro-instacademy** Cancel Reply - ![takarta07](https://secure.gravatar.com/avatar/76b4040818467efd2904c882127ab37b57b2e7e785f875e5a4afee8802073687?s=96&d=mm&r=g) takarta07 Jul 28, 2026 @ 7:50 pm##### Great video series. Learned a lot! The video series helped walk me through understanding how to do advanced OpenSearch optimizations and better understand how the queries work. Definitely recommend! [ Reply ](javascript:;) **Reply to takarta07** Cancel Reply × Free Lesson Videos: ------------------- Free [ Register Now ](https://www.instaclustr.com/account/?redirect_to=https://www.instaclustr.com/courses/opensearch/optimizing-opensearch-vector-storage-and-search-for-faster-ai-applications/) 2h 23 Students Last Updated: September 21, 2026 #### Deleting Course Review Are you sure? You can't restore this back Cancel Delete #### Course Access This course is password protected. To access it please enter your password below: Password Cancel Verify ### Related Courses [ ![OpenSearch for RAG featured image](https://www.instaclustr.com/wp-content/uploads/advanced-rag-opensearch-featured-image-cropped-3.png) ](https://www.instaclustr.com/courses/opensearch/advanced-rag-with-opensearch/) [ AI ](https://www.instaclustr.com/course-category/ai/) [ OpenSearch ](https://www.instaclustr.com/course-category/opensearch/) [ Vector search ](https://www.instaclustr.com/course-category/vector-search/) [Advanced RAG for OpenSearch](https://www.instaclustr.com/courses/opensearch/advanced-rag-with-opensearch/ "Advanced RAG for OpenSearch") ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- [ ![NetApp Instaclustr](https://secure.gravatar.com/avatar/09f4986a3ed2bf995149593c803b3bcf2e0a601846ef1ccc390952f56fd0ba7f?s=96&d=mm&r=g "NetApp Instaclustr") ](https://www.instaclustr.com/blog/instructor/netapp-instaclustr/?post_type=mto-course) [ NetApp Instaclustr ](https://www.instaclustr.com/blog/instructor/netapp-instaclustr/?post_type=mto-course) Basic Retrieval Augmented Generation is easy to demo, but not all RAG deployments are created equal. Deploying a robust RAG solution requires more than pointing your language model at a lot of documents, asking it… 2h 8 26