Posted By
Darren Love
on
22. September 2011 01:00
Precise Search solution provides great value to the customer and also provides value with in organizational boundaries. It is very essential to choose, compare and analyze a complete search solution, by which the enterprise can achieve competitive edge.
A full text search solution is a data query and retrieval technique used to search through digital documents and databases. It is faster and more powerful than regular search methods, allowing searches to use effective queries to find content across multiple data types.
The two most common full text search solutions use the technologies Apache Solr or Lucene.
Apache Lucene: Apache Lucene is a full – feature text search engine. Lucene is library developed entirely in Java. This technology solution is widely suitable for any application, which requires search functionality.
Apache Solr: Solr uses the Lucene search library and extends it with a set of robust features. Since Solr is a platform that uses the Lucene library, the only time it may be preferable to use Lucene is if you want to embed search functionality into your own application.
Solr is an HTTP wrapper for Lucene, Solr adds functionalities such as XML/HTTP and JSON APIs, hit highlighting, faceted search, caching, replication, and a web administration interface. Using Solr involves indexing documents using XML, JSON, or binary over HTTP. Content from these documents are retrieved using an HTTP GET query. Solr is written in java and runs as a standalone full-text search server within a servlet container, such as Tomcat.
- Hit Highlighting – Shows a snippet of a document in the search results that surrounds the search terms
- Faceted Search – Dynamically clusters search results into drill-down categories
- Built-in Sorting – Automatic features to sort search results by a variety of characteristics
- Web Admin Interface – Allows setting the various requested parameters through a query form
- HTTP query – Pass a number of optional request parameters to the request handler to control what information is returned.
- Data Pulling via Database and File Storage – Allows for faster, more comprehensive searches on a large volume of data
- External XML Configuration –Solr is flexible and adaptable using XML configuration
However, there is some confusion regarding the difference and the advantages of each solution. Thus, it is unclear when Solr or Lucene should be used as a full text solution in a given situation.
For desktop applications with embed search functionality, more appropriate choice is Lucene. Solutions with customized requirement and access to Lucene APIs, Solr is more appropriate because of its added features with combination of Lucene. Thus, derived equation for Solr related to Lucene is:
Solr = Lucene + additional features
For organizations already using Lucene as their full-text search solution, it is not difficult to upgrade to Solr since it is an extension of the Lucene library. Solr is completely configurable, so you can benefit from the robust functionality of the platform.
There is a third option for organizations that prefer to use Microsoft technologies. Microsoft SQL Server (MS SQL) is a relational database server that stores and retrieves data from other software applications on the same computer or network. Like Solr, MS SQL indexes electronic documents and stores the content on searchable SQL databases.
Call us at 484-892-5713 or Contact Us today to get more details about which is best full text search solution Solr or Lucene.
