Microsoft and Its Different Search Systems
July 12, 2011
We noted SharePoint Geek’s useful blog post “Comparing SharePoint 2010 Search: Foundation vs Server vs FAST.” The table presents in a very succinct manner the three main search solutions available from Microsoft. In fact, this table is something we suggest you tuck into your SharePoint Reference folder, which was put together by the editor at LearningSharePoint.com.
Let’s take a quick look at the three search systems available from Microsoft. Search Technologies has significant experience with each of these within our Microsoft Search Practice, and we find them useful within the design and configuration constraints which Microsoft’s engineers have defined for each system.
SharePoint Foundation 2010 is what we call “basic key word search.” The product is included with SharePoint 2010. It does a solid job of indexing content within a properly configured SharePoint installation. If you are a small business with two or three people who need access to shared content, SharePoint Foundation is going to be a logical choice.
The upgrade is the search function in SharePoint Server 2010. In a nutshell, the basic key word search and intranet indexing is similar to that in Foundation. Additional features provided with this Microsoft search system include:
- An entity search which is optimized for people
- A query federation function which allows content from different intranet sources to be combined in one results list.
- Graphical administrative interface.
A basic “suggested search” or “see also” function is available as well. This search system may meet the needs of most small businesses. If you need to access external content, you will want to upgrade to the Fast Search system.
The features of the Fast solution include:
- Basic search
- A document preview function so the application does not have to launched to view the content
- Intranet indexing
- Indexing of Web and third party content not within the licensee’s SharePoint repository
- Concatenated results lists; that is, information from multiple collections and sources
- A graphical administrative tool
- Faceted search.
Our view is that if you implement the SharePoint Server 2010 or Fast Search Server 2010, you may want to enlist the support of a company like Search Technologies. There are three reasons:
First, engineers working on SharePoint without deep experience in search will benefit from the expertise obtained through dozens and dozens of SharePoint Search and Fast Search deployments.
Second, the optimization techniques that a firm such as Search Technologies possesses often allow a SharePoint licensee to maximize performance without the need to scale up and out.
Third, the customization functions are rich; however, some of the methods for fine tuning certain features often require custom scripting or the use of methods not required for SQL Server or Exchange. Therefore, a third party can reduce the time, cost, and frustration of adding the final touches to a SharePoint “findability” solution.
Please, navigate to www.searchtechnologies.com to learn more about our expertise in deploying Microsoft’s search solutions.
Iain Fletcher, July 12, 2011
Search Technologies
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