** Reply to note from [log in to unmask] Thu, 29 Apr 1999 10:41:35 +0100 (GMT Daylight Time)
Hi Majella,
> What is the preferred internal search engine software for academic sites?
> <chop>
> The 6 were:
>
> Ultraseek
> Thunderstone's webinator: http://www.thunderstone.com/webinator/
> 'ICE' search engine: http://www.informatik.th-darmstadt.de/~neuss/ice/ice.html
> htdig http://htdig.sdsu.edu/
> Search Maestro
> Excite http://www.excite.com/navigate/
>
> I would like to see the pros and cons of each - perhaps there is a comparative
> evaluation out there somewhere?
You are asking a very open question. Instead you should start from what
is your OS and what are your needs?
(A)
Are you using Unix, Mac, NT ... OS/2 (unlikely). Do you have a choice of
running a separate machine for your engine (thus OS becomes irrelevant).
Which OS can you support/do you want to support?
(B)
Do you need to index many servers? (thus you need a robot).
(C)
Do you want unlimited files to be indexed (well, within reason).
The "free" commercial offerings (last time I checked them) were limited
in file numbers (say 10k files) and had no robots. Some www servers (M$,
lotus Domino Go and maybe others) come with free engines but can only
index the local server (no robots).
Some of the offerings above are Unix only (ht/dig, harvest).
Search Maestro is OS/2 only. Macs I believe have their
own engine (forget the name).
There is a successor to Search Maestro (Perestroika) running on
pure Java. I have tested a version of the engine with 20K pages (but
without any CGIs, ie. from the C:\> prompt and speed was
surprisingly good for what I would have expected from Java). It will have
a robot, understand Meta tags etc, and will be free. Watch this space.
Basically, ask your question again :-))
Regards
Charles
BTW: Could not help putting a plug comrades :-)
==============================================
Charles Christacopoulos, Secretary's Office, University of Dundee,
Dundee DD1 4HN, (Scotland) United Kingdom.
Tel: +44+(0)1382-344891. Fax: +44+(0)1382-201604.
WebDad of http://somis.ais.dundee.ac.uk/
Home of the Scottish Search Maestro http://somis2.ais.dundee.ac.uk/
Happily using OS2 Warp.
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