Professional Microsoft Search: SharePoint 2007 and Search Server 2008

Written by three of the most recognized influencers in the Microsoft SharePoint community, this book sheds light on SharePoint Search in the enterprise and focuses solely on Microsoft Search technology. This book is intended for a range of folks from the IT administrator to the developer writing search applications. We span many topics in this book to try to cover the breadth of using, administering, and developing on the SharePoint Search technologies. The developer chapters will be important for the administrator to understand, since developers and administrators have to work together to make Search work. On the flip side, the administrator chapters will be important for developers to understand the architecture and administration of Search because, without this knowledge, writing to the APIs will be more difficult. Most readers will benefit from reading all the chapters in this book.

This book covers the breadth of the SharePoint Search technologies from Search Server to Windows SharePoint Services to Office SharePoint Server. We also include information on the latest search technologies coming from Microsoft, including the new federation capabilities, filter pack, and the recently acquired FAST technologies.

This book is structured in such a way that you can read it from end to end. The chapters are laid out in such a way that they build on each other, starting with an overview chapter and ending with an API chapter that shows you how to program against all the technology about which you just learned. If you are new to SharePoint, the first few chapters will be important for you to understand and digest before moving on, since the array of search technologies can be overwhelming for someone new to them. For experienced SharePoint readers, the overview chapters are a good refresher to skim through, but you probably can skip right to the detailed chapters, starting with Chapter 3, Planning and Deploying an Enterprise Search Solution.

The topics covered include:

Introduction to Enterprise Search.

Overview of Microsoft Enterprise Search Products.

Planning and Deploying an Enterprise Search Solution.

Configuring and Administering Search.

Searching LOB Systems with the BDC.

User Profiles and People Search.

Extending Search with Federation.

Securing Your Search Results.

Customizing the Search Experience.

Understanding and Tuning Relevance.

Building Applications with the Search API and Web Services.

To get the most from this book, you will want a copy of Office SharePoint Server. Windows SharePoint Services or Search Server will work, but you will not have access to all the search capabilities we talk about in the book. One easy way to get an evaluation copy of SharePoint is to download the SharePoint virtual machine from MSDN. You can find a link to the virtual machine on the SharePoint home page at www.microsoft.com/office/sharepoint. This virtual machine, while large, is preconfigured for you so that you can start working with the SharePoint Search technologies without having to install all the software and configure it.