I seem to recall hearing not so long ago that FAST were saying that “All The Web” was proof of FAST’s scalability. Now we learn from John that it was a totally different product and ESP was designed from the ground up for Enterprise Search. With the OEM version being on a different code base and with the Unix/Linux releases apparently going their separate ways to ESP on Windows, it now seems that with the addition of FAST for Sharepoint that Microsoft have at least 4 FAST code bases to support. On top of their existing large number of search solutions perhaps Gartner should produce an information retrieval quadrant aimed solely at Microsoft’s search products?

As John points out he does not see much major functional extensions to non-Windows environments. The observation regarding Unix/Linux support is worrying. Given that a large proportion of FAST customers are Ecommerce and large website clients whose platform of choice tends to be Unix/Linux the choice seems clear… stick to a legacy platform, migrate to FAST on Windows or migrate to another search provider. Will support extend to fixing performance/scaling issues that may manifest themselves on older implementations? Given the nature of business on the web, having an agile deployment strategy is a must.

I had assumed that “support” included the same enhancements to the product that will be ongoing in ESP on the Windows platform. What about new FAST customers? Has Microsoft stopped selling ESP to new Unix/Linux customers or still selling ESP even in the knowledge that these products will get minimal enhancements moving forward? If I had invested in a license of FAST on Unix/Linux I would have expected to get future enhancements in step with ESP on Windows as part of my support and maintenance agreement. If John is right, this appears not to be the case.

Your observation around 64 bit “engineering” is also well made. The expectation that 64 bit technology will in itself somehow make an older enterprise search engine fit for today’s information management demands is like giving an unfit person (me) an extra five gears on my bicycle and expecting me to transform into Lance Armstrong. If only it were true.

A note for the gentleman commenting on the 64 bit software: Microsoft/FAST are offering the SharePoint version of both SearchServer and FAST ESP in SharePoint on 64 bit platforms only – no more 32 bit at all. WRT delivery date: The SharePoint beta shops in November 2009 (still a few weeks from now on my current timeline); altho ESP will not be 0part of the initial release, as I understand it.

Regards my friend!

I had someone tell me that my posts were obscene. The helpful reader added that I was uninformed, a risk to young programmers, and worse than the people accosted on the TV show “Cops”. I am going to post whether my articles are written for zero compensation or whether I get a vast sum of money or cargo cult type goodies for a write up. I will disclose vendors who buy me a ginger beer as “paying” for coverage. The addled goose is addled for a very good reason. Probably because he does not smoke, drink, attend industry conferences, or get too excited when his view points give people a headache. I thought the FCC, FTC, and SEC were birds of a feather, each to regulate my life so it is better in each and every way. Therefore, I see them as identical, a method that has helped me with my government work in the distant past.

Stephen Arnold, October 19, 2009

I don’t think you are quite accurate in stating that ESP was designed for the web, . As a matter of fact, FAST sold off all its web index business, including the AltaVista web business. ESP was targeted from the get-go for the enterprise..

On the other hand, the version of ESP that was re-engineered and sold through OEMS had different configurations and extension depending on which OEM the user purchased the product from. Please note that these implementation were actual NOT ESP, but even named differently and was called FAST InStream. Like most OEM products, it was not licensed as an end user license so the chances anyone would support it like ESP is doubtful. The customer is best served going to the vendor that sold them the solution or buying a new license..

Although the “10 year support” legend is bantered around the ESP user world the reality is FAST issued a policy in November 2008 and has pretty much stuck with that plan. The idea was a “10 year support horizon”. User’s experiences will vary. Note that InStream is not on that list at all. The policy statement is still on the site: https://extranet.fastsearch.com/static/Customer_Ready_Support_Upgrade_FAQ.html

As we will all find out this week, Microsoft will continue to announce the evolving integration of ESP and Sharepoint. Best I can see, this seems on track with there originally announced plans. And yes, ESP will continue to provide enterprise scalability for Sharepoint and just about any other content a customer may require. Any enterprise customer will be hard pressed to find a more cost effective integrated enterprise ECM and search solutions right now, at least for the Windows world.

Unix/Linux? Its got to be all about the customer, but I would agree with you to a point. I doubt we will see much major functional extensions to non-windows based releases. Support yes; functional advancement, doubtful.

You point to the problems of one time licensing capitalization. It is likely not a good idea in todays quickly changing software world to expect long horizons for feature improvements on one-time licensed product. Choosing use licensing makes much more sense. I expect the ecal model to be quite popular for Microsoft customers in this regard.

With regard to integration of the OEM version of Fast with Sharepoint, it shouldn’t be too difficult to federate the query from Sharepoint to the version of Fast.

We should know more about the upgrade path to ESP for Sharepoint today as MS is talking about it at the Sharepoint conference in Vegas.

Thanks

Pete

The FCC only cares if you start broadcasting obscenity.

http://www.fcc.gov/cgb/consumerfacts/obscene.html

Fast ESP for SharePoint is to my knowledge a “black box”, much like MS Search Server, and with only one document pipeline. From this I conclude that it’s an offering for existing MOSS customers with MOSS Search, and for new customers. If you have a full blown Fast ESP, you have to stand in line.