diff --git a/dmp-backend/pom.xml b/dmp-backend/pom.xml
index 335884af1..254577ace 100644
--- a/dmp-backend/pom.xml
+++ b/dmp-backend/pom.xml
@@ -69,7 +69,39 @@
         <dependency>
             <groupId>org.elasticsearch</groupId>
             <artifactId>elasticsearch</artifactId>
-            <version>7.6.0</version>
+            <version>7.7.0</version>
+            <exclusions>
+                <exclusion>
+                    <groupId>org.apache.httpcomponents</groupId>
+                    <artifactId>httpclient</artifactId>
+                </exclusion>
+                <exclusion>
+                    <groupId>org.apache.httpcomponents</groupId>
+                    <artifactId>httpcore</artifactId>
+                </exclusion>
+                <exclusion>
+                    <groupId>org.apache.httpcomponents</groupId>
+                    <artifactId>httpcore-nio</artifactId>
+                </exclusion>
+            </exclusions>
+        </dependency>
+
+        <dependency>
+            <groupId>org.apache.httpcomponents</groupId>
+            <artifactId>httpclient</artifactId>
+            <version>4.5.12</version>
+        </dependency>
+
+        <dependency>
+            <groupId>org.apache.httpcomponents</groupId>
+            <artifactId>httpcore-nio</artifactId>
+            <version>4.4.13</version>
+        </dependency>
+
+        <dependency>
+            <groupId>org.apache.httpcomponents</groupId>
+            <artifactId>httpcore</artifactId>
+            <version>4.4.13</version>
         </dependency>
 
         <dependency>
diff --git a/dmp-backend/web/pom.xml b/dmp-backend/web/pom.xml
index 0063c90d7..d3cfd31e6 100644
--- a/dmp-backend/web/pom.xml
+++ b/dmp-backend/web/pom.xml
@@ -79,9 +79,9 @@
         </dependency>
 
         <dependency>
-            <groupId>postgresql</groupId>
+            <groupId>org.postgresql</groupId>
             <artifactId>postgresql</artifactId>
-            <version>9.1-901.jdbc4</version>
+            <version>42.2.22</version>
         </dependency>
 
         <dependency>
@@ -134,6 +134,7 @@
             <plugin>
                 <groupId>org.apache.maven.plugins</groupId>
                 <artifactId>maven-compiler-plugin</artifactId>
+                <version>3.8.1</version>
                 <configuration>
                     <source>1.8</source>
                     <target>1.8</target>
@@ -142,6 +143,7 @@
             <plugin>
                 <groupId>org.springframework.boot</groupId>
                 <artifactId>spring-boot-maven-plugin</artifactId>
+                <version>1.5.9.RELEASE</version>
             </plugin>
         </plugins>
     </build>
diff --git a/dmp-backend/web/src/main/java/eu/eudat/configurations/ElasticSearchConfiguration.java b/dmp-backend/web/src/main/java/eu/eudat/configurations/ElasticSearchConfiguration.java
index 549156f83..e299035e1 100644
--- a/dmp-backend/web/src/main/java/eu/eudat/configurations/ElasticSearchConfiguration.java
+++ b/dmp-backend/web/src/main/java/eu/eudat/configurations/ElasticSearchConfiguration.java
@@ -5,18 +5,27 @@ import org.apache.http.auth.AuthScope;
 import org.apache.http.auth.UsernamePasswordCredentials;
 import org.apache.http.client.CredentialsProvider;
 import org.apache.http.impl.client.BasicCredentialsProvider;
+import org.apache.http.impl.nio.conn.PoolingNHttpClientConnectionManager;
+import org.apache.http.impl.nio.reactor.DefaultConnectingIOReactor;
+import org.apache.http.nio.reactor.IOReactorException;
+import org.apache.http.nio.reactor.IOReactorExceptionHandler;
 import org.elasticsearch.client.RestClient;
 import org.elasticsearch.client.RestHighLevelClient;
+import org.slf4j.Logger;
+import org.slf4j.LoggerFactory;
 import org.springframework.beans.factory.annotation.Autowired;
 import org.springframework.context.annotation.Bean;
 import org.springframework.context.annotation.Configuration;
 import org.springframework.core.env.Environment;
 
+import java.io.IOException;
+
 /**
  * Created by ikalyvas on 7/5/2018.
  */
 @Configuration
 public class ElasticSearchConfiguration {
+    private static final Logger logger = LoggerFactory.getLogger(ElasticSearchConfiguration.class);
 
     private Environment environment;
 
@@ -31,12 +40,31 @@ public class ElasticSearchConfiguration {
         credentialsProvider.setCredentials(AuthScope.ANY,
                 new UsernamePasswordCredentials(this.environment.getProperty("elasticsearch.username"), this.environment.getProperty("elasticsearch.password")));
 
-        RestHighLevelClient client = new RestHighLevelClient(
-                RestClient.builder(
-                        new HttpHost(this.environment.getProperty("elasticsearch.host"),
-                                Integer.parseInt(this.environment.getProperty("elasticsearch.port")), "http"))
-                          .setHttpClientConfigCallback(httpClientBuilder -> httpClientBuilder
-                                  .setDefaultCredentialsProvider(credentialsProvider)));
-        return client;
+        try {
+            DefaultConnectingIOReactor ioReactor = new DefaultConnectingIOReactor();
+            ioReactor.setExceptionHandler(new IOReactorExceptionHandler() {
+                @Override
+                public boolean handle(IOException e) {
+                    logger.warn("System may be unstable: IOReactor encountered a checked exception : " + e.getMessage(), e);
+                    return true; // Return true to note this exception as handled, it will not be re-thrown
+                }
+
+                @Override
+                public boolean handle(RuntimeException e) {
+                    logger.warn("System may be unstable: IOReactor encountered a runtime exception : " + e.getMessage(), e);
+                    return true; // Return true to note this exception as handled, it will not be re-thrown
+                }
+            });
+
+            RestHighLevelClient client = new RestHighLevelClient(
+                    RestClient.builder(
+                            new HttpHost(this.environment.getProperty("elasticsearch.host"),
+                                    Integer.parseInt(this.environment.getProperty("elasticsearch.port")), "http"))
+                            .setHttpClientConfigCallback(httpClientBuilder -> httpClientBuilder
+                                    .setDefaultCredentialsProvider(credentialsProvider).setConnectionManager(new PoolingNHttpClientConnectionManager(ioReactor))));
+            return client;
+        }catch (IOReactorException ex) {
+            throw new RuntimeException(ex);
+        }
     }
 }