Open Search Server

June 14, 2011

TechWorld’s “Open Search Server Releases New Developer Preview” offers details on a preview of a new Apache Lucene-based search system.

Written in Java, the article reports that:

Open Search Server can crawl file systems, databases and websites” and supports a wide variety of document formats. The preview includes “a new screenshot feature that captures screenshots of the Web pages being crawled, similar to the preview feature of a big name public search engine.

The open software offers companies independence in developing their information management strategies. In the “Cloud” era, these strategies – how users will be able to search and retrieve documents – will become strategic.

If you are tracking open source search vendors, add this one to your list.

Stephen E Arnold, June 14, 2011

Sponsored by ArnoldIT.com, the resource for enterprise search information and current news about data fusion

Nuxeo and the Google Search Appliance

April 28, 2011

I saw a brief news item about the integration of the open source content management system with the Google Search Appliance. Nuxeo already hooks into Lotus Notes and a number of other enterprise applications. The cheery “Great News…Nuxeo Integration with Google Search Appliance” points out:

Nuxeo’s recently announced Google Search Appliance (GSA) connector is an important component for any enterprise indexing and search strategy. Nuxeo content is actively indexed and can be searched using the familiar Google search page. Of course, to access Nuxeo content you still to login and you must have appropriate rights. And because the Nuxeo connector is open source, it can always be customized to meet your specific requirements!

My reaction to this announcement was a question about the cost of scaling a GSA search solution. I covered some of Google’s publicly posted pricing data for its GB 7007 and GB 9009 devices. The article appeared in ETM, a publication of ISIGlobal.com. (This was a for fee column, so you will have to chase down the hard copy of the publication or contact ISIGlobal.com.) I had a couple of comments about the cost of the GSA, particularly when an organization has to upgrade to handle tens of millions of documents.

My reaction is that organizations considering the GSA will want to make certain about the document count and then get written price quotations for the appropriate GSA AND the cost of scaling that Google Search Appliance as the volume of content increases.

The savings from an open source CMS could be consumed by a GSA upgrade unless the licensee does his or her homework.

Stephen E Arnold, April 28, 2011

Freebie unlike the GSA

Fabasoft Mindbreeze Search Appliance

November 19, 2010

Austria’s Fabasoft Mindbreeze – a Microsoft centric development and integration vendor — has rolled out an appliance that offers users the opportunity to customize their configuration in order to meet the specific needs of the organization.

This Appliance combines hardware with specialized software to create a highly efficient search platform. In their blog post “Three Configurations for Dynamic Scalability and Deployment” (http://blog.mindbreeze.com/blog-en/-/blogs/three-configurations-for-dynamic-scalability-and-deployment) Fabasoft Mindbreeze outlines the various ways their Appliance can be used. The first level is a single Appliance, for small-scale enterprise environments; the second level involves adding additional Appliances and utilizing automatic data partitioning; and the third level involves multiple Appliances and index replication. It remains to be seen whether this type of set-up will be seen as beneficial by end users.

Many companies are offering appliances and the market is getting crowded. Some vendors, such as Exalead have moved towards cloud alternatives. The Fabasoft Mindbreeze Appliance will have to compete with EPI Thunderstone, Index Engines, and the Google Search Appliance and prove that this Appliance performs where others can’t.

Laura Amos, November 19, 2010

Freebie

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