Google Search Appliance 6.0 Upgraded To Index Billions of Documents

Google’s highly-rated search solutions for business, Google Search Appliance 6.0 has received an upgrade that would fillip the indexing capacity of the search device to billions of documents and make it easier to scale it up. The new GSA software offers a more flexible architecture which helps to link the devices easily and increase the number of documents indexed. What’s more, Google would be introducing a new model - GB-9009, which can index up to 30 million documents instantly. The minimum indexing capacity of the device is 15 million documents.

Google Search Appliance comes as a hardware box equipped with enterprise search software designed to let companies index and retrieve the data in their corporate systems. It allows indexing of data in systems like document management tools, applications, databases, Web servers and files. Google’s software is based on the technology that it uses in its Web search engines.

There is a range of devices in the enterprise search market. However, most of these products are expensive and hard to implement and use. Google clearly aims to grab the underserved market with its aggressive price and low to mid-range product that is simple to install, use and maintain.

The upgraded indexing capacity would be a breakthrough for Google in a market competing for customers who need industrial-strength enterprise search.

Inside the GB-9009 model

The GB-9009 would be replacing the GB-8008. According to Nitin Mangtani, senior product manager of enterprise search at Google, in order to index 30 million documents, Google had to hard-wire and preconfigure on 12 server nodes.

The new deice is developed on Dell’s PowerEdge R710 platform and runs on Intel’s Xeon 5500 Series processors. The Search Appliance model offers two units - one for processing and one for storage.

Other Search Application Models

In addition Google is also phasing the entry-level GB-1001. It has the maximum capacity of indexing 3 million documents. However, it can be stacked in configurations of either five or eight units that would increase its capacity up to 10 million or 30 million documents, respectively.

The GB-7007 with the capacity of 10 million documents can now be stacked with the new 6.0 software available.

The GB-1001, GB-7007 and the GB-9009 devices will be running on the new 6.0 software.

However, 8008 model can’t run the 6.0 software. Google will be working with 8008 customers so that they can migrate to the new architecture if they want to.

The new, flexible architecture will allow the IT departments to mix and match 7007 and 9009 devices based on their capacity requirements. Now the devices could be linked if they’re not in the same physical location

Moreover, the new 6.0 software would offer more options for the IT managers including customization of administration, security and search relevancy features. Further, the GSA 6.0 would allow the end users extensive social search capabilities, like for instance the ability for them to add results.

The Search Appliance has been priced at US$30,000 with two years of technical support for the GB-7007 with a 500,000 document capacity. The indexing can be increased by purchasing additional capacity for the same box.