Professional Microsoft® Search: FAST Search, SharePoint® Search, and Search Server

Chapter 7. Introduction to FAST ESP

WHAT'S IN THIS CHAPTER?

• An Introduction to ESP

• Installing ESP

• Quick start: indexing and searching a website

• Managing ESP

• ESP Goodies

• Guide to ESP documentation by role

In the previous three chapters, our focus has been on the Microsoft search products that integrate tightly with SharePoint 2010. Those products, especially the new FAST Search for SharePoint 2010, represent a new and exciting direction for search on the Microsoft Windows platform.

In this chapter and in Chapter 8, we will discuss the technology inside of the only multi-platform search technology from Microsoft: FAST ESP, newly branded as FAST Search for Internal Applications and FAST Search for Internet Sites.

Microsoft continues to market the existing FAST Search and Transfer product, FAST ESP 5.3, on both Windows and non-Windows platforms. In this chapter, and in Chapter 8, our focus shifts into this newly branded product.

The FAST ESP 5.3 product is available from Microsoft under two different names, based primarily on the product licensing model.

FAST Search for Internal Applications (FSIA) is the new name for FAST ESP 5.3 for internally-facing search applications in customer organizations. FSIA is licensed based on servers and on Microsoft enterprise client access licenses (ECAL), a per-seat model. Remember, FSIA is intended for use for an organization's intranet and other internal systems, where the number of users is predictable.

FAST Search for Internet Sites (FSIS) includes FAST ESP ...