Software alternatives to Google Search Appliance (GSA)

Question

I am interested in software alternatives to the Google Search Appliance (GSA) for use in a (large) university context. Has anyone experiences of migrating from GSA to an alternative solution? If so, what were the reasons for doing this (technical, financial, staff effort, etc) and have the experiences been positive?

Answer 1

I would recommend looking up Apache Solr , it is IMHO the best scalable, feature-rich search server out there. A F/OSS out-of-the-box solution from Apache Software Foundation and used by organizations such as Netflix, AOL, CNet etc. We had used GSA in our company for an year before moving to Solr. The move was relatively painless compared to the benefits accrued.

Since it integrates with a RESTful interface it can be integrated into your platform of choice without language/platform tie-ins. Give it a whirl!