Search Engines
Enterprise and open-source search engine platforms that provide scalable information retrieval capabilities.
Supported Solution Fields
When to Use
- When you need full-text search capabilities
- When you need to handle large document collections
- When you need faceted search and filtering
- When you need relevance scoring and ranking
When Not to Use
- When you only need simple string matching
- When your dataset is very small
- When you need specialized vector search
- When you need real-time updates
Tradeoffs
- Scale vs Complexity: Larger indices require more complex management
- Features vs Performance: More features can impact query speed
- Accuracy vs Speed: Better relevance often means slower queries
- Managed vs Self-hosted: Control versus operational overhead
Commercial Implementations
-
Elasticsearch
- Open source
- Highly scalable
- Rich feature set
- Strong ecosystem
-
Solr
- Open source
- Mature platform
- Enterprise features
- Strong text search
-
Typesense
- Modern architecture
- Fast implementation
- Easy to set up
- Good for smaller deployments
-
Algolia
- Fully managed
- Developer friendly
- Quick implementation
- Strong relevance
Common Combinations
- Content management systems
- E-commerce platforms
- Documentation sites
- Knowledge bases
- Enterprise search
Case Study: Documentation Portal
A software company implemented enterprise search for their documentation:
Challenge
- Millions of documents
- Multiple languages
- Complex filtering needs
- Real-time updates
Solution
- Implemented Elasticsearch
- Custom relevance scoring
- Faceted navigation
- Automated indexing
Results
- 80% faster search times
- Improved search relevance
- Better user satisfaction
- Reduced support tickets