Microsoft FAST Search Server 2010 for SharePoint Evaluation Guide 1 www.microsoft.
The information contained in this document represents the current view of Microsoft Corporation on the issues discussed as of the date of publication. Because Microsoft must respond to changing market conditions, it should not be interpreted to be a commitment on the part of Microsoft, and Microsoft cannot guarantee the accuracy of any information presented after the date of publication. This white paper is for informational purposes only.
Contents Abstract............................................................................................................................................................. 1 How to Use This Document....................................................................................................................... 2 Introduction ....................................................................................................................................................
Relevancy Tuning by Document or Site Promotions ............................................................ 14 Synonyms .............................................................................................................................................. 14 Managed Properties and Metadata creation ........................................................................... 15 Property Extraction .........................................................................................................
Indexing ................................................................................................................................................. 30 Query Matching .................................................................................................................................. 30 Query Processing ............................................................................................................................... 30 Connector Framework .....................................
Abstract This evaluation guide is designed to give you an understanding of the design goals and the details of the enterprise search features provided by Microsoft® FAST™ Search Server 2010 for SharePoint®. This guide is also designed to give you a familiarity with how to implement enterprise search by using FAST Search Server 2010 for SharePoint. This guide includes: Descriptions of the enterprise search features and technologies provided by FAST Search Server 2010 for SharePoint.
How to Use This Document This document has been designed to enable you to learn about and evaluate the enterprise search features provided by FAST Search Server 2010 for SharePoint. NOTE: FAST Search Server 2010 for SharePoint shares much in common with the enterprise search features of SharePoint Server 2010. If you are not already familiar with the enterprise search features of SharePoint Server 2010, you should also review the SharePoint Server 2010 Enterprise Search Evaluation Guide.
Introduction Welcome to this evaluation guide for Microsoft FAST Search Server 2010 for SharePoint. The goal of this guide is to help you gain sufficient knowledge and understanding of FAST Search Server 2010 for SharePoint to evaluate how it can fulfill your organization's enterprise search requirements. NOTE: This guide describes the enterprise search features FAST Search Server 2010 for SharePoint.
Opportunity costs—mediocre general productivity search and limited deployment of high-value search applications did not help information worker productivity. FAST Search Server 2010 for SharePoint offers a new choice in enterprise search. Combining the power of FAST with SharePoint, FAST Search Server 2010 for SharePoint delivers Microsoft's best general productivity search experience and a platform for building search-driven applications.
sort, refine, and query your content. Furthermore, advanced language support provides your employees the ability to find content written in its native language. Ensure that searches provide accurate ranking for relevant results. The major reason that a user continues to use a search engine is if it returns relevant information near the top of the search results. Microsoft search gets better with social ranking capabilities by promoting popular documents.
Microsoft Enterprise Search Products Overview There are various search products available from Microsoft, so before delving into the details of enterprise search for FAST Search Server 2010 for SharePoint, it will be useful for you to become familiar with all of the products in the enterprise search portfolio. Microsoft Server-Side Search Products The following products all provide varying degrees of indexing and search features.
Features and Capabilities Office SharePoint Server 2007 SharePoint Server 2010 FAST Search Server 2010 for SharePoint Search from Windows 7 & Windows Mobile Search beyond the search center. Conduct searches from the Windows 7 desktop and on your Windows mobile device. X O† O† Taxonomy tag integration Bring the power of taxonomy into search. Tag metadata is shown in results, and users can refine by taxonomy-based tags.
SharePoint Foundation 2010 can only crawl SharePoint sites in the same farm.
One of the general aims of enterprise search with FAST Search Server 2010 for SharePoint is to implement sub-second query latencies for all searches. To achieve this, you must ensure that no query server deals with more than ten million items. You can achieve this by adding multiple query servers to your farm, and therefore by taking advantage of the new index partitioning features of FAST Search Server 2010 for SharePoint.
Enterprise Search Features in FAST Search Server 2010 for SharePoint FAST Search Server 2010 for SharePoint builds on SharePoint Server 2010, and provides significant enhancements to the Enterprise Search capabilities. Search in SharePoint Server 2010 is targeted at “general productivity search.” General productivity search solutions increase employee efficiency by connecting a broad set of people to a broad set of information. Intranet search is the most common example.
Contextual search to meet the needs of diverse groups Unique IT Professional Perspective Capability Difference Scale and performance Better Ease of deployment Same Enterprise-class manageability Better Secure, broad connectivity Better Advanced content processing out-of-the-box Unique Ease of configuring high-end user experiences Unique Developer Perspective Capability Difference Customize the out-of-the-box user experience by using Web Parts Same Extend connectivity by using the Busines
FAST Search Server 2010 for SharePoint FAST Search Server 2010 for SharePoint provides enhancements and new capabilities to the enterprise search features of SharePoint Server 2010. You can use this section to learn more about the enhanced enterprise search features provided by FAST Search Server 2010 for SharePoint. If you are not familiar with the new enterprise search capabilities in SharePoint Server 2010, refer to the SharePoint Server 2010 Enterprise Search Evaluation Guide.
Conversational Search Capabilities The conversational search capabilities provide ways for information workers to interact with and refine their search results, so that they can quickly find the information they require. Sort Results on Managed Properties With FAST Search Server 2010 for SharePoint, users can sort results on any managed properties, such as sorting by Author, Document Size, or Title.
Similar Results With FAST Search Server 2010 for SharePoint, results returned by a query include links to 'Similar Results'. When a user clicks on the link, the search is re-defined and re-run to include documents that are similar to the result in question. Result Collapsing FAST Search Server 2010 for SharePoint documents that have the same checksum stored in the index will be collapsed as one document in the search result.
FAST Search Server 2010 for SharePoint extends synonyms by enabling you to implement both two-way and one-way synonyms. With two-way synonyms, when a query includes a synonymous term for a keyword, items that contain the keyword are returned (just as for one-way synonyms). Furthermore, if a search expression includes the keyword, then items that contain the synonymous terms are returned, regardless of whether they also contain the keyword.
improve the precision of the property extraction by editing the include lists and exclude lists for each property extractor. Excluded items are removed immediately, while included items take effect the next time the content is indexed. You can also create custom property extractors based on your organization's specific content using Windows PowerShell and SharePoint administration.
You can tailor different rank profiles to different use cases, or you can enable advanced information workers to select different rank profiles for different queries. Custom Rank Profiles are created with Windows PowerShell cmdlets. Refer to the FAST Search Server 2010 for SharePoint Windows PowerShell Cmdlet Overview and the FAST Search Server 2010 for SharePoint Windows PowerShell Cmdlet Help guides for more details.
FAST Search Server 2010 for SharePoint for End Users This section provides information about how the search experience is blended with the SharePoint experience, and how it has been enhanced for end users when they use FAST Search Center. FAST Search Server 2010 for SharePoint User Experience Figure 1 shows the search user interface provided by the FAST Search Center site template. Note that the user interface looks and feels very similar to Search Center sites in SharePoint Server 2010.
Figure 2 shows the advanced search user interface provided by the FAST Search Center site template. Note that the advanced user interface also looks and feels similar to that provided by Search Center sites in SharePoint Server 2010. Figure 2. Consistent Advanced Search 19 www.microsoft.
Figure 3 shows the user preferences provided by the FAST Search Center site template. Note that the user preferences interface also looks and feels similar to that provided by Search Center sites in SharePoint Server 2010. This provides information workers with a consistent search experience. Figure 3. Consistent User Preferences 20 www.microsoft.
Enhanced Search Results Figure 4 shows a typical results page in a FAST Search Center. Figure 4. Enhanced Search Results Page Notice how the overall results experience is very similar to, but more powerful than the results provided by SharePoint Server 2010. The refiners are to the left, the search results are down the middle, and the federated results (from People Profiles and other repositories) are on the right, along with related searches.
Figure 5. Search Results with a Visual Best Bet Social Search A significant aspect to people's work in an organization is interacting with other people and finding the right people to connect with who have specific skills and talents. This can be a daunting challenge in a large organization. FAST Search Server 2010 for SharePoint addresses this challenge through search, and connects this search to the social capabilities in SharePoint Server 2010.
immediately connect with people once they are found through search. Figure 6 shows a People Search results page. Figure 6. People Search Result Page Mining and Discovering Expertise Users can manually submit or automatically generate a list of colleagues mined from Outlook®. Automatically generated lists of colleagues are a way of rapidly inferring social relationships throughout the organization, which speeds the adoption and usefulness of people search results.
search relevance, thereby helping the organization harness the collective wisdom of its people. Custom Search Solutions FAST Search Server 2010 for SharePoint is also the ideal platform for developing searchbased applications and custom solutions. Figure 7 illustrates an example of a Customer Relationship Management application based on search.
FAST Search Server 2010 for SharePoint for IT Professionals FAST Search Server 2010 Architecture Overview Figure 8 shows the FAST Search Server 2010 for SharePoint system as part of an overall SharePoint deployment. Figure 8. FAST Search Server 2010 for SharePoint in an Overall SharePoint Farm Architecture FAST Search Server 2010 for SharePoint search solutions consist of three main parts: FAST Search Server 2010 for SharePoint.
service application on SharePoint Web servers, and it hosts Search Web Parts and customized query integration capabilities for your search solution. FAST Search Connector Content Search Service Application. The Content Search Service Application retrieves content for indexing from SharePoint farms and other content repositories. You install and deploy the Content Search Service Application on a SharePoint application server.
Integration with Search Center When you create a search site based on the FAST Search Center template, the resulting site will look and feel very similar to a SharePoint Server 2010 Search Center site. However, the Web Parts that are included are extended versions of the SharePoint Server 2010 Search Web Parts. They include the additional capabilities provided by FAST Search Server 2010 for SharePoint, such as sorting by managed properties, previewers, deep refiners, similar results links, and so on.
Categories of cmdlets FAST Search Server 2010 for SharePoint cmdlets cover four basic areas: Administration Security Index schema Spell tuning For more information, refer to the overview page for FAST Search Server 2010 for SharePoint. Developer Experience FAST Search Server 2010 for SharePoint Web Parts use the same unified object model as SharePoint Server 2010 and the other search platforms from Microsoft.
many clicks in the search click-through log are popular and therefore receive better rank scores than less-viewed items. Items that are linked to from many other items are also perceived to be more relevant for the user and therefore receive better rank scores. The Web Analyzer scales up to many nodes to reduce the total time that is needed for the analysis. Item Processing The item processing service receives items to be indexed from indexing connectors.
information. Examples of linguistic processing in the item processing include character normalization and normalization of stemming variations. Indexing The indexing service creates searchable indexes based on the processed items. No external database is needed for the indexing or the generated indexes. The indexing service supports a seamless content partitioning into index columns in order to handle large content volumes.
includes merging the results from multiple index columns, formatting the query hit list, formatting the query refinement data, and removing duplicates. It is the responsibility of the query processing service to ensure that the user performing a query sees only the results that he or she is authorized to see. The query processing service therefore validates the user‟s permissions and rewrites the incoming query with an access filter that corresponds to the current user and group membership.
Use SharePoint Designer 2010 to create external content types and entities for databases or Web Services, and then simply crawl those entities Use Visual Studio® 2010 to create external content types and entities for databases or Web Services, and then simply crawl those entities Use Visual Studio 2010 to create .NET types for Business Connectivity Services (typically for back-end systems that implement dynamic data models, such as document management systems).
5. On the Quick Launch, in the Administration section, click FAST Search Administration. The FAST Search Administration page appears. Figure 9. FAST Search Administration 6. On the Fast Search Administration page, click Managed properties. 7. Click Add Managed Property. The New Managed Property page appears. 33 www.microsoft.
Figure 10. New Managed Property Page FAST managed properties include the stemming and summary behaviors that are not provided by SharePoint Server 2010 managed properties. FAST managed properties include the ability for you to specify whether the managed property can be used as a sort by field and whether it can be used in as a filter term in search queries. You can also specify whether the managed property should be represented as refiner field.
Figure 11 shows the user interface for working with all of these attributes Figure 11. Sorting, Query Filters, and Refinement Attributes Search Administration at the Site Collection Level Administrators can use the site collection administration pages to define keywords, Best Bets, synonyms, and definitions. Administrators can also use the site collection administration pages to define search scopes. NOTE: Any settings created or modified at the site collection level affect only that site collection.
3. In the Web Application section, use the Web Application changer to select the Web application where you want to create the Search Center. 4. In the Title text box, type FAST Search Center. 5. In the Description text box, type FAST Search Center for SharePoint 2010. 6. In the Web Site Address section, select /sites/ in the drop-down list, and then type fastsearch in the text box. 7. In the Template Selection section, click the Enterprise tab. 8. Click FAST Search Center.
FAST Site Collection Settings This section provides information for how site collection administrators work with FAST Search Server 2010 for SharePoint settings. NOTE: Any settings created or modified at the site collection level affect only that site collection. Exploring FAST Search Settings at the Site Collection Level As a site collection administrator, you can use the site settings page to start creating FAST Search keywords, site promotions and demotions, and user contexts.
FAST Search Keywords Figure 13 shows the main page for administering FAST Search keywords. Figure 13. FAST Search Keywords FAST Search keywords are more powerful than their SharePoint Server 2010 counterparts. You can create Best Bets, Visual Best Bets, Document Promotions, and Document Demotions for a keyword, and you can also restrict a keyword to a specific user context. Figure 14 shows the FAST Search keyword creation process, including one-way and twoway synonyms. 38 www.microsoft.
Figure 14. FAST Keyword Creation FAST Search Site Promotions and Demotions You can promote or demote sites, which affect the relevance ranking for documents in those locations. Figure 15 shows the promotion page. Figure 15. Site Promotion FAST Search User Contexts You can create FAST Search user contexts by using the site settings page in a site collection.
demotions. Figure 16 shows how to start creating a FAST Search user context called Execs. The new user context can apply to users with specific office locations or with specific knowledge Figure 16. Adding a User Context The table of keywords can be filtered to display only Best Bets, Visual Best Bets, Document Promotions and Document Demotions that apply to a specific user context.
Filter Table by User Context Figure 17. Filtering Best Bets, Visual Best Bets, Document Promotions and Document Demotions for a User Context You can also associate promotions with a user context as shown in Figure 18. Restricted to User Context Figure 18. Promotions and User Contexts 41 www.microsoft.
Appendix A: Search Terminology Before delving into the details of enterprise search features provided by FAST Search Server 2010 for SharePoint, it will be useful for you to ensure that you are familiar with search terms and definitions. You can use the following table to review brief descriptions of the terms used later in this guide. Term Best Bet Definition Best Bets are URLs to documents that are associated with one or more keywords.
Term Crawler Definition The crawler is the component that uses connectors to retrieve content from content repositories. Crawler Impact Rule A crawler impact rule governs the load that the crawler places on source systems when it crawls the content in those source systems.
Term Partitioned Index Definition SharePoint Server 2010 includes a new concept that enables administrators to spread the load for queries across multiple query servers. This is achieved by creating subsets of an index, and propagating individual subsets to different query servers. The subsets are known as partitions. At query time, the query object model contacts each query server that can satisfy the search so that all results to be returned to the user are included.
Term Stemming Definition Words in each language can have multiple forms, but essentially mean the same thing. For example, the verb To Write includes forms such as writing, wrote, write, and writes. Similarly, nouns normally include singular and plural versions, such as book and books. The stemming feature in enterprise search can increase recall of relevant documents by mapping one form of a word to its variants.
Appendix B: Feature Comparison between Search Products You can use the following table to make quick comparisons of the search features provided by each product: Feature SharePoint Search Server Search SharePoint FAST Search Foundation 2010 Express Server 2010 Server 2010 Server 2010 for 2010 SharePoint Y Basic site search Best Bets Y Y Y Y Y Y Y Y Visual Best Bets Y Similar Results Y Y Duplicate Results Y Y Y Y Y Y Y Y Y Y Y Y Y Y* Y* Y* Y* Y Y Y Search Scope
Feature SharePoint Search Server Search SharePoint FAST Search Foundation 2010 Express Server 2010 Server 2010 Server 2010 for 2010 SharePoint Y Shallow Results Refinement Y Y Y Deep Results Refinement Y Document Preview Y Y Y Y People Search Y Y Phonetic Name Search*** Y Y Nickname Search*** Y Y Self Search Y Y Social Search Y Y Taxonomy Integration Y Y Multi-Tenant Hosting Y Windows 7 Federation Y Y Rich Web Indexing Support * For NTLM environments **FAST Se
Appendix C: Resources Available for Evaluating SharePoint Server 2010 Microsoft encourages you to use the following resources as aids in installing and evaluating SharePoint Server 2010 in addition to this evaluation guide: The product documentation on TechNet will help you install SharePoint Server 2010. SharePoint.microsoft.com offers a variety of white papers and other resources.
