Installing Microsoft Index Server
Installation Requirements
Installation Notes
Recommended Configuration
Samples
Performance Notes
This page describes how to install Microsoft Index Server and get it quickly setup to work for you. Just start the installation program, point to the sample search page from your home page, and issue a query.
Installation RequirementsBefore installing Index Server, you must have successfully installed:
Microsoft® Internet Information Server (IIS) version 2.0 on Microsoft® Windows NT® Server version 4.0
—Or—
Microsoft Peer Web Services (PWS) on Microsoft Windows NT Workstation version 4.0
On Microsoft Windows NT Server, the minimum hardware required for Index Server is same as that for IIS. On Microsoft Windows NT Workstation, you need 16 megabytes of RAM minimum.
Index Server program files require anywhere from 3 to 12 megabytes of disk space, depending upon the number of languages installed. Index Server can index documents in several different languages.
Disk space needed for storing Index Server data depends upon the size of the corpus and type of documents. The free disk space must be roughly 40 percent of the size of the corpus.
For security reasons, it is recommended that Index Server data be stored on a Windows NT File System (NTFS) drive. For more information on security, see the Security page in the Microsoft Index Server Guide.
The optimum configuration depends upon the size of the corpus, number of documents, and the search load on the server. More memory and faster processors make indexing and querying faster. For details on configuring your computer for Index Server, see Recommended Configuration later on this page.
Installation NotesYou can download the following self-extracting executable files (program files):
| Executable File Name | Contains Executable Files and Language Resources For |
|---|---|
| Idxsvall.exe | All the supported languages |
| Idxsvenu.exe | U.S. English |
| Idxsveng.exe | International English |
| Idxsvdeu.exe | German |
| Idxsvesn.exe | Spanish |
| Idxsvita.exe | Italian |
| Idxsvnld.exe | Dutch |
| Idxsvsve.exe | Swedish |
After downloading one or more of the above self-extracting executable files, you can then run the program.
When setting up Index Server, you will be asked where to put the following components of Index Server:
Sample query pages. The sample pages will be referenced by the virtual path /Samples/Search.
Sample query scripts. The sample scripts that work with the sample pages are referenced by the virtual path /Scripts/Samples/Search.
Data (the indexes). There must be sufficient free space on this drive.
To take full advantage of Windows NT security, you should put all these paths on an NTFS drive. The location is very important because that is where Index Server data is stored. If you choose an NTFS drive, Setup automatically sets the appropriate security on Index Server catalog pages. For more information on security, please refer to the Index Server Security page.
The drive on which Index Server data is stored must have enough free space. The default installation will configure all readable virtual paths to be indexed, which implies that the free space must be roughly 40% of all the virtual paths. To selectively enable indexing on particular roots only, see the Basic Administration page.
After installing Index Server, you can start by issuing a query. The sample query pages are a good starting point.
Click Start and then choose Programs.
Choose Microsoft Index Server, and point to Sample Query Form.
On the sample query form, type a word or phrase to seach for and click the Execute Query button.
Please note that Index Server is not started automatically when IIS or PWS is started. The first query against a particular Index Server configuration starts the indexing process for that data set. Index Server is stopped when IIS or PWS is stopped. There is no way to stop only Index Server.
Recommended ConfigurationThe minimum configuration requirements for Index Server are basically same as for Microsoft Windows NT Server but the configuration for optimum performance depends upon the number of documents, size of the data corpus, and the rate of queries. A 486/DX4-100 computer with 32 megabytes of memory running Windows NT Server 4.0 serviced queries well if the number of simultaneous queries is not too high. For a small organization, this may be sufficient; but for a larger group serving more users, better hardware is recommended.
The recommended configuration for Index Server depends upon the following factors:
Number of documents in the corpus
Size of the corpus
Rate of search requests arriving at the server
Kind of queries. Complex queries will run faster on a computer with a faster CPU
The following table shows recommended memory configuration based on the number of documents. The size of the corpus affects the disk space needed for storing Index Server data. The disk space needed for Index Server data in all the cases is approximately 40% of the size of the corpus. While the average usage is less than 30% of the corpus, the peak usage of disk space can be 40%.
| Number of Documents | Minimum Memory (in megabytes) | Recommended Memory (in megabytes) |
|---|---|---|
| Fewer than 10,000 | 16 for Workstation 32 for Server | Same as minimum |
| Fewer than 100,000 | 32 | 32 |
| 100,000-250,000 | 32 | 64-128 |
| 250,000-500,000 | 64 | 128-256 |
| 500,000 or more | 128 | 256 or more |
A faster CPU and more memory improves the performance of indexing as well as speed of queries. If the number of documents is very large, not having enough memory will seriously affect performance. If you see that performance is slow when Index Server is running, add more memory to improve the situation.
SamplesWith Index Server, you can design sophisticated query forms. Take a look at the default samples to see how to write query forms.
Note Sample sites, applications, and pages included in this software are provided as examples only, and are not intended for use as, or as the basis for creation of, production-quality server applications.
The simple query form query the entire corpus. See the Query Language page for details on creating complex queries.
In addition to the simply query form, other sample pages show the power of Index Server to do complex queries. With complex queries, you can search for keywords, phrases, proximity, and also restrict the results based on properties such as file size, last write time, and so on. You can configure the author sample page to restrict the results to documents written by a particular author or authors.
Performance NotesThis section answers some technical questions about Index Server and how it works.
Index Server will index roots that do not have read permissions, but that are physically located beneath a root with read permission enabled. A workaround is to append the root to a restriction. For example, you can mask an unreadable root named /_unreadable by setting the CiRestriction in the .idq file to: CiRestriction=(%UserRestriction%) &! #vpath *\_unreadable\*.
Index Server does not support physical paths longer than the Windows NT shell limit (260 characters).
A Uniform Resource Locator (URL) or a form-based query can send up to 4 kilobytes (K) of data. If a query larger than 4K is sent, the behavior is unpredictable. The query size includes all variables sent from the browser to the .idq file.
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