Understanding of SharePoint Search Architecture or How the SharePoint search exactly work?
How the SharePoint search work?
OR
Understanding the SharePoint search architecture.
Let me try to make it easy for you. There are two main roles in SharePoint search that we need to understand.
First is Index Server and second is Search Server.
The purpose of Index Server is collecting data and looking data from where it is to be searched. Where data can be relayed from any source and then indexed. When the data is stored in Index server or defined, we call it Content Sources.
Content Sources are locations/ domains or areas from where index server fetches the information. The information can be defined by the administrator at the time of configuration of content sources. The content you want to search for may include public web site data, external web site, documents (it could be your local SharePoint environment, file shares and local hard drives).
Once these content sources are defined, you have to setup the schedule. The schedule runs every midnight or incrementally every 15 minutes and so. (You may set this schedule as per the data size or as per your requirement). This way your content sources get updated and index the data. So now if you go out and save a Microsoft word file, it indexes the content of a file, meta data, and everything that is related to the file. The index information gets saved on local hard drive of the Index Server (C:\Program Files\Microsoft Office Servers\14.0\Data\Office Server\Applications). After that it also generates some data and gets stored in databases alongwith inside the search database.
(The data goes along with index files that go on your index server; both loads data are in kind of one unit).
When this happens, index server goes out and index the files on index server. Then get propagate to the search server. If you have multiple search servers then it will index to all search servers.
So propagation is happening in over the environment. If you have huge index file, it would send data in small bit of files cluster to the search server. It means if your Index server has 4 GB data, please make sure your Front end server should have the same amount of free disk space.
Very important thing to be noted: The Index server and the Database server information that pretend to your search cannot be separated. Hmmm... you must be thinking what does it mean??
It means Index data can’t be backed up or you don't need to take backup of this index data. If you lost your index data, don't worry just go and re-index it. If you have 100 GB index data it will take 2 to 3 hours to re-index.
When user does search, the search server or the query server goes out and looks to the index that exists on the local drive of index server. Then it returns with the search result.
Search Configuration is complete.
Let's discuss some common practical questions.
1) If I want to do search for File Share? (Shared drive)
If you add them in content source or the data got indexed, SharePoint will provide you the result.
2) If I upload some non-Microsoft document? For e.g. PDF files
Generally SharePoint does not index non-Microsoft files. For this we need to install iFilter.
Once you install iFilter then index server is able to understand and read the content the PDF file. Then SharePoint can search for PDF file and its body contents.
3.) What is the use of content access account?
Whatever data you want to index by index server, for example- Web Site data, external web site, documents, it could be your local SharePoint environment, file shares, local hard drives. Content access account must have the permission of the sources. The content access account works as an eye for SharePoint Search.
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