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Search Connectors

Introducing Search Connectors

Microsoft’s enterprise search products are designed to connect securely with the variety of information repositories, business systems, and services you already use. Search Server 2008 Express, Search Server 2008, Office SharePoint Server 2007, and FAST ESP offer many common search connectors. Microsoft’s rich partner ecosystem allows you to connect your search solution with an even wider set of applications and platforms. You can learn more about extending your Microsoft enterprise search solution with your information and business systems right here.

Types of Search Connectors

You can get the most from your Microsoft enterprise search solution by identifying and implementing search connectors that meet your needs. After you determine the types of unstructured and structured information you use in your business, you can choose to implement appropriate search connectors for each type.

Microsoft supports three types of search connectors:

  • Indexing Search Connectors

    Indexing search connectors allow your Microsoft enterprise search solution to index the contents of a target system, creating an internal representation that can then be used to return search results quickly.

  • Federated Search Connectors

    Federated search connectors allow your Microsoft enterprise search solution to pass search queries to a target information source, internal or external, and accept and display results returned from that source.

  • iFilters

    iFilters allow you to index a wide variety of documents and file types using an interface common across Search Server 2008, Office SharePoint Server 2007, Windows SharePoint Services, Windows Desktop Search, Windows Vista, and SQL Server.

Introducing Indexing Search Connectors

Indexing search connectors allow your Microsoft enterprise search solution to index the contents of a target system, creating an internal representation that can then be used to return search results quickly. Indexing search connectors provide the most powerful connection to a target system because they enable “intelligent access” through mechanisms that understand the file formats, data structures, and security features of the information source.

Indexing Search Connectors by Products

There are two classes of indexing search connectors: Microsoft Indexing Connectors and FAST Indexing Connectors.

Microsoft Indexing Connectors for unstructured data sources often are referred to as Protocol Handlers. For structured data sources, they are known as Business Data Catalog Application Definition Files. Microsoft Indexing Connectors are free and downloadable from Microsoft. Additional indexing connectors are available from Microsoft partners.

FAST Indexing Connectors provide support for both structured and unstructured data sources. FAST connectors are available for purchase for any FAST ESP system. FAST customers connect to hundreds of different sources with production-quality connectors which include:

  • Office SharePoint Server

  • Microsoft Exchange

  • Microsoft Content Management Server

  • Lotus Notes

  • Documentum

Indexing Search Connector Partners

EMC.com

EMC Documentum Search Services for Search Server 2008
Indexes: EMC Documentum

With EMC Documentum Search Services for Search Server 2008, you'll never have to leave the familiar Office SharePoint Server interface to search across a broad range of information sources. This solution is easy-to-use and delivers merged, ranked, and clustered results.

Benefits include:

  • Searches a broad range of non-OpenSearch repositories

  • Reuses existing application indexes

  • Merges search results from multiple sources

  • Compatible with any security schema

 

Offered by: EMC Corporation

SHAREPOINTWorks

SHAREPOINTWorks Enterprise Search Connector
Indexes: EMC Documentum, Microsoft Exchange Server, Hummingbird, ODBC, OLEDB, SQL Server, Interwoven WorkSite

Our Enterprise Search Connector is an extensible SharePoint Search protocol handler module. The module provides enhanced capabilities for indexing Line of Business (LOB) systems. It is configured easily through our standard Office SharePoint Server admin screens to connect to multiple systems simultaneously to provide combined enhanced metadata. Our security model is multi-layered with a complete AD mapping system and real-time security trimming, allowing us to map and manage disparate non-AD-based security models. Our metadata definition capability far exceeds any other solution with scriptable formatting, external lookups, and external data profiling. We are able to index documents from any DM system (Interwoven WorkSite, for instance) and retrieve additional metadata from a client’s CRM system to be combined with the documents’ searchable properties.

 

Offered by: SHAREPOINTWorks

Introducing Federated Search Connectors

Federated search connectors allow your Enterprise Search from Microsoft solution to pass search queries to a target system and accept and display results returned from that system. Federated search connectors are the fastest and easiest way to connect to your information sources.

Federated Search Connectors by Products

Microsoft supports two types of federated search connectors: Microsoft Federated Search Connectors and FAST Federated Search Connectors.

Microsoft Federated Search Connectors are based on the OpenSearch standard, making it easy for you to configure federated searches for a wide variety of existing information services that exist today. The configuration data for a federated search connector can be packaged and reused as a federated location definition (.FLD) file.

FAST Federated Search Connectors can be used only with FAST Unity. FAST Unity also supports a toolkit to create new federated search connectors. Below are some of the connectors that are available for use with FAST Unity:

  • FAST ESP

  • FAST AdMomentum

  • Microsoft Live

  • Office SharePoint Server 2003

  • Office SharePoint Server 2007

  • Yahoo!

  • Gigablast

  • Google Custom Search Engine (CSE)

  • XML-RPC

  • OpenSearch

Federated Search Connector Partners


EMC Documentum Search Services

EMC Documentum Search Services for Search Server 2008

Federates to: EMC Documentum

EMC provides a federated search broker native to Office SharePoint Server that extends the reach of Search Server 2008. Moreover, ECIS provides single sign-on capabilities, simplifying access to multiple information sources by managing access credentials dynamically. Finally, EMC's ECIS leverages application-based indexes and security permission to ensure that knowledge workers gain only an appropriate level of access to information.

Offered by: EMC Corporation

Epicor Information Worker

Epicor Information Worker

Federates to: Epicor ERP

Epicor Information Worker (IW) is a highly innovative Office Business Application (OBA) that enables workers to access and use Epicor enterprise solutions through their familiar Microsoft Office system software. And because Epicor IW integrates with 2007 Microsoft Office system, users benefit from the interface elements and features of the most innovative and productive version of the Microsoft Office system. Epicor IW integrates with all key components of the 2007 Microsoft Office system, including Outlook 2007, Word 2007, Microsoft Excel 2007, and Office SharePoint Server 2007.

By creating an OBA through which users can access and use Epicor ERP software, the company delivers key benefits including the following:

  • A seamless Microsoft Office-to-Epicor experience

  • Integrated communications within Microsoft Outlook

  • Intelligent document authoring within Microsoft Word

  • Data mining and analysis within Microsoft Excel

  • Disconnected and mobile user support

Offered by: Epicor

Epicor for Service Enterprises

Epicor Information Worker

Federates to: Epicor ESA

Epicor for Service Enterprises features innovative business process management modeling to ensure the solution adapts and responds as the business changes and grows. Epicor for Service Enterprises consists of several project-focused suites, each containing individual modules that connect seamlessly to share information for complete efficiency. The highly compliant Web services architecture allows individual modules to be updated, customized, or enhanced as needed. Epicor for Service Enterprises delivers real business benefits derived from the utilization of XML Web services in an industry-defining solution for the service economy. It satisfies the market’s increased demand for collaboration among customers, suppliers, contractors, and employees, and it provides a straightforward and expert means for sourcing and assigning labor resources to projects.

Offered by: Epicor

IDV Solutions

Visual Fusion for Federated Search

Federates to: Flickr, Virtual Earth

The Visual Fusion Federated Search Connector enables Search Server 2008 Express to integrate with IDV's visual composite application suite, Visual Fusion, and Flickr, the popular online photo management and sharing application, allowing users to search millions of geotagged Flickr images and visualize the results on a Virtual Earth base map.

With Visual Fusion for Search, organizations received a platform for collaboration, intuitive discovery, and broad data connections by combining the powerful capabilities of Visual Fusion Suite, Search Server 2008 Express, Office SharePoint Server 2007, and Virtual Earth. By integrating Visual Fusion for Search and Search Server 2008 Express, users can visualize, in the context of location and time, the results of their keyword searches within a single, visual composite application.

Visual Fusion for Search provides users of Search Server 2008 Express with enhanced visual search capabilities that extend beyond the usual document paradigm.

Offered by: IDV Solutions

Symantec

Enterprise Vault Federated Location

Federates to: Symantec Enterprise Vault

Symantec Enterprise Vault 2007 provides a software-based intelligent archiving platform that stores, manages, and enables discovery of corporate data from email systems, file server environments, instant messaging platforms, and content management and collaboration systems. Enterprise Vault uses intelligent classification engines to manage data, improving a company's ability to retain and protect corporate information while reducing storage costs and simplifying management.

Enterprise Vault provides federated search locations for Search Server 2008 for each content source (email, IM, SharePoint documents, file system, etc.) within the Enterprise Vault archive to allow customers to search archived content alongside other data repositories.

Offered by: Symantec

Vorsite

The Vorsite Content and Search Connectors for MOSS Office SharePoint Server

Federates to: IBM FileNet, EMC Documentum

The Vorsite Connectors provide integration points between Office SharePoint Server products and technologies and enterprise content management systems such as Documentum and FileNet.

Key features include: content/document sharing, portal integration, unified and federated search.

Offered by: Vorsite Corporation

XMLAW

OneView Enterprise Search

Federates to: Open Text Hummingbird, Interwoven iManage

OneView Enterprise Search supports the way users work, whether they prefer to search or browse for information. It securely crawls and indexes both structured and unstructured content from any data source, allowing users to find the information they need easily from multiple systems and content sources using Office SharePoint Server’s powerful full-text search.

Unified searching across all law firm systems, including millions of documents stored in document management systems, allows users to stay within the intranet while searching all content sources. Interactive search results -- including federated search with sorting, grouping and drill-down capabilities, navigation to related information, and contextual real-time integration with source system functionality -- are customizable to the needs of the users.

Offered by: XMLAW

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Introducing iFilters

iFilters allow you to index a wide variety of documents and file types using an interface common across Search Server 2008, Office SharePoint Server 2007, Windows SharePoint Services, Windows Desktop Search, Windows Vista, and SQL Server.

iFilter Partners

Coveo Audio and Video Search

Coveo Audio and Video Search

Indexes: Rich Media Content

Coveo Audio and Video Search (CAVS) accesses rich media content with unparalleled precision and ease, allowing users to search across audio and video content as easily as they search across document content. CAVS’s patented “automatic training” capabilities leverage enterprise content to improve the precision of speech recognition. The result is a searchable transcript of speech content that is enterprise- aware (i.e., proper names, employee names, domain terms, etc.).

CAVS delivers a powerful, innovative, and cost-effective solution to the marketplace, enabling organizations to:

  • Access content easily in eTraining and long-distance learning solutions

  • Adhere to compliance and regulatory demands

  • Improve risk management initiatives

  • Deliver targeted multimedia content across the enterprise

  • Drive new revenue and content access based on user profiles

  • Improve customer service in call centers

CAVS pricing starts at $40,000 USD to search up to 2,000 hours of rich media content and scales to handle hundreds of thousands of hours.

Offered by: Coveo Solutions Inc.

Captaris TIFF iFilter

Captaris TIFF iFilter

Indexes: TIFF

Captaris TIFF iFilter is a new capture solution for Office SharePoint Server 2007, Search Server 2008, and Search Server 2008 Express. Based on Captaris OCR server technology, the TIFF iFilter transforms scanned images created from paper documents into intelligent documents for search and retrieval by customers of the Enterprise Search from Microsoft product line.

Offered by: Captaris