# Number of primary Elemental Live nodes
<a name="el-node-design"></a>

Determine the number of *primary nodes *you need:
+ You need at least sufficient Elemental Live nodes to run the channels for all the encoding workflows and MPTS workflows.
+ You don't need to run each SPTS channel on its own node. A node can run multiple channels, including multiple SPTS channels. 

After you have determined the number of primary nodes, you should identify your redundant node requirements. See [Worker node redundancy](redundancy-worker.md).

**Rules for association between SPTS channels and the MPTS**

The following rules help you identify the number of nodes that you need.

The SPTS channels for a single MPTS can originate from one node. 

![\[Diagram showing Elemental Live node A with three channels connecting to Elemental Statmux node MPTS.\]](http://docs.aws.amazon.com/elemental-cl3/latest/ug/images/Channel-source-1-node.png)


Or the SPTS channels can originate from two or more nodes. 

![\[Diagram showing two Elemental Live nodes connected to an Elemental Statmux node with MPTS.\]](http://docs.aws.amazon.com/elemental-cl3/latest/ug/images/Channel-source-2-nodes.png)


A node can contain SPTS channels that go to different MPTSes. There is no requirement for a node to be dedicated to one MPTS. In the following diagram, node A contains SPTS channels for two different MPTSes. 

![\[Diagram showing two Elemental Live nodes connected to two Elemental Statmux nodes with MPTS.\]](http://docs.aws.amazon.com/elemental-cl3/latest/ug/images/node-feeds-2-mpts.png)


An SPTS channel can't be used by two different Statmux MPTS. 

![\[Diagram showing incompatibility between Elemental Live node and two Elemental Statmux nodes.\]](http://docs.aws.amazon.com/elemental-cl3/latest/ug/images/Channel-not-feed-2-mpts.png)


A node that has SPTS channels can also produce other channels (events). The node doesn't have to be dedicated to producing SPTSes. 

![\[Diagram showing Elemental Live node A with channels connecting to Elemental Statmux node MPTS.\]](http://docs.aws.amazon.com/elemental-cl3/latest/ug/images/Node-produce-other-channels.png)