Microsoft dives into enterprise search with free server

New effort ups ante in battle with Google

By John Fontana, Network World
November 06, 2007 10:11 AM ET

Microsoft Tuesday made a dramatic statement about its future in enterprise search by introducing a free search server along with a licensed version, both of which align with search software already offered via SharePoint Server.

The company unveiled Microsoft Search Server Express 2008, which will be offered for free, and a fee-based upgrade called Microsoft Search Server 2008. A preview of Search Server Express that runs on Windows 2003 Server is available for download.

Both Search Server versions will be generally available in the first half of 2008, and both team with SQL Server on the back-end. Microsoft fully expects its partners to use the software to build stand-alone search appliances.

In addition, Microsoft plans to support the OpenSearch specification and use it to anchor a federated search environment that can integrate results from disparate search platforms.

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Enterprise search offerings
Microsoft last week made a dramatic move to deepen its visibility in enterprise search by offering a free server and a midtier server as part of its expanded portfolio of search software.

Search editions	Configurations	Feature add-ons	Licensing/support
Search Server Express	Basic: Installs on one box with SQL Server Express. Advanced: Teams with full version of SQL Server 2000 SP3 or higher (SQL requires license).	Includes relevance and relevance tuning; security-trimmed results; query and results reporting.	Free/per incident
Search Server	Users can separate index service and search service.	Express features plus load balancing and high availability.	Per server/3 years
SharePoint Server 2007	Four versions, including two specifically for search that lack some features in regular versions; SharePoint Search Standard edition is limited to 400,000 documents while the other three are unlimited.	Beyond Search Server adds people and expertise searching, business data catalog, integration with SharePoint infrastructure.	Server and client- access license/3 years

Click to see: Microsoft's enterprise search offerings

The two new search offerings create an entry point and a midtier in a Microsoft enterprise search portfolio that previously included only SharePoint Server.

Microsoft is using a familiar model of seeding a market with a free tool to entice users to experiment and backing it up with a path to migrate to more full-featured versions. Microsoft used the model with SharePoint, offering SharePoint Services for free as part of Windows Server, and aligning it with SharePoint Server, a stand-alone content management, collaboration product and search engine with its own licensing requirements.

The two new search servers are based on technology baked into SharePonit Server.

Critics say Microsoft’s strategy will disrupt in the short-term an enterprise search market that has Google and IBM, with OmniFind Yahoo, offering no-cost or low-cost entry-level appliances or software.

In the long term, high-end vendors that integrate with corporate infrastructure and applications -- such as Autonomy, Fast Search & Transfer, Endeca Search and Vivisimo -- also could face pressure from Microsoft, the same critics conclude.