white paper – TNR Global

TNR Global Launches Search Application for Museum Collections

We use open source search technology that works with most museum software systems and databases including the popular museum software product PastPerfect.

TNR Global Launches Search Application for Museum Collections

TNR Global is launching the alpha version of a search application designed specifically for museum collections. Museum Collections Search is any application for digitally searching a museum’s collection. This can be made available to the public or used by only the internal staff for curation, and can be made available to a selected professional or research audience. Our White Paper explains the application in more detail.

Collections Search adds tremendous value to the research community and is often in line with the educational mission of many museums. A search feature is a resource for students and researchers, and can expand the overall audience by reaching people separated by distance or with limited physical mobility. When the public finds items in your collection like historic letters, photographs of items, and other catalog items through you search function, it can increase interest and traffic to the museum’s site and physical collection.

While the ability to search a museum collection for is a way to bring immense value to the museum and the community that supports it, intellectual property is an ongoing concern for curators within the museum community. TNR Global recognizes this and has technologies to address access to material. When setting up a search, ease of use or understanding and responsiveness are addressed, also issues of ownership or privacy all combine to determine the search technology chosen and how it is applied. The search realm and results can be tailored based on the user. By defining the audience (or audiences) for the collection and the search, we can structure the presentation of the results. The public view can be a more restricted display, while protected view and can be more expansive and detailed.

We use open source search technology that works with most museum software systems and databases including the popular museum software product PastPerfect. We customize our search solution specifically for your collection and optimize search results for the most relevant results to queries.

TNR Global has a long history with the museum community. Our CEO is Principal of the organization We Love Museums and is a member of dozens of museums worldwide. He is involved with a number of archival and curatorial indexing projects. He has merged his lifelong career in database and web technology with his passion for art, education, and history with creating a search solution to benefit museums and their patrons. To get started, contact us for an evaluation of your Museum Collection Search Project today!

White Papers

Research is essential to choosing the right search technology for your organization. With new and complex technologies emerging every day, it can be difficult to navigate the path that will lead you to the right solution. Staying abreast of new tools and technology is a top priority for our team of software developers. We have reported on many tools and search technologies, their components and applications in a series of White Papers. Our papers are geared for the technology professional but often have enough business cases that illustrate how improving search can be of value to the needs of the business like analyzing large sets of data, better site performance, higher customer satisfaction and an overall healthy bottom line.

To indicate your interest in receiving our White Papers on the following subjects, click the headings below to enter your email. From time to time we may update the paper or send relevant information on the subject, but by no means will we inundate you with email. Our White Papers are free when you sign up.

Thank you for your interest in our work. Please feel free to contact us to discuss your specific needs. We’re happy to discuss your options.

White Papers Published 2012:

Elasticsearch Evaluation

Reporting on Large Data Sets with Elasticsearch

Bridging the Gap: A Migration Path from Fast ESP to Lucene Solr

Museum Collection Search

And if you are just getting started or learning about Enterprise Search on a smaller scale, you can view these White Papers as well, no email necessary.

White Papers Published 2010-2011:

Elasticsearch Evaluation White Paper Released: Promising for Big Data

We believe that Elasticsearch is a product that everyone working in the field of big data will want to take a look at.

There are many new technologies emerging around search, and we’ve been investigating several of them for our clients. Search has never been “easy” but Elasticsearch attempts to make it at least easier. Elasticsearch is billed to be “built for the cloud,” and with so many companies moving into the cloud, it seems like a natural that search would move there too. This paper is designed to show you just how Elasticsearch works by setting up a cluster and feeding it data. We also let you know what tools we use so you can test out the technology and we include a rough sketch of code as well. Finally, we make conclusions about how Elasticsearch can help with problems like Big Data and other search related uses.

Elasticsearch is an open source technology developed by one developer, Shay Bannon. This paper is simply a first look at elasticsearch and is not associated with an additonal product or variation of elaticsearch. The appeal for big data is due to elasticsearch’s wonderful ability to scale with growing content, which has largely been associated with the “big data problem” we all keep hearing about. It’s very easy to add new nodes and it handles the balancing of your data across the available nodes. It handles the failure of nodes in a graceful way that is important in a cloud environment. And lastly, we simply evaluate and test the technology. We really don’t believe there is a one size fits all technology in the realm of enterprise search, it is really highly dependent upon your systems, how many documents you have, how much unstructured data you have, and how you want your site to function. But that said– in terms of storing big data, it is as capable as any Lucene based product; it can handle a much larger load that the current Solr release as the notion of breaking the index up into smaller chunks is “baked in” to the product.

Here is an except from the paper:

“Products like Elasticsearch that lack a document processing component entirely become more attractive. In fact, most projects that involve a data set large enough to qualify as “big data”³² are building their own document processing stages anyway as part of their ETL cycle.”

If you are interested in downloading this free White Paper, sign up with us here.

If you would like help using Elasticsearch with your search project, contact us.

For Many Companies, Migration to a New Search Engine is Inevitable

HADLEY, MA– March 12, 2012

In the world of Enterprise Search, everything is changing. Companies who have been using Microsoft’s internal search engine, FAST Enterprise Search Platform, will be forced to make a change as Microsoft discontinues support for the search platform for companies using Linux as their operating system. Anticipating the need for a solution, local technology consultants TNR Global is pleased to announce the release of a White Paper for migrating off FAST ESP to a new search engine, Solr. The paper is titled Bridging the Gap: A Migration Path from Fast ESP to Apache Solr.

This effort began last October when TNR Global presented on the subject of migration from FAST to Solr at the open source conference, Apache Lucene Eurocon in Barcelona, Spain. The paper contains a case study with architecture overview, loading millions of documents into Solr indexes, evaluation and recommendation of tools to bridge the feature gap, migrating custom pipeline code, and the vastly improved ROI after implementation. “It’s basically a road map for companies looking at options for migration, and we outline Solr as a very good option” said Karen E. Lynn, Director of Business Development.

“We have spent over 9 years working with the FAST ESP product and we understand the nuances of what customers have come to expect from the technology. We’ve identified Solr as a top choice for migrating off FAST as support for the product drops off” said Michael McIntosh, VP of Search Technologies and lead author of the paper. “Solr is an open source technology that has matured and is certainly stable enough for commercial use” said Chris Miles, Senior Software Engineer and contributor to the paper. “We’re excited about this migration option for our customers, and we believe over the long run, it will save them a lot of money and give them greater control over their search engine.”

This heavily anticipated paper will assist companies and organizations in planning their own FAST ESP to Apache Solr migrations and alert them to tools and techniques that can help them achieve a relatively painless process. Several large blue chip companies have expressed interest in the paper. “We’ve had a healthy response to the paper” said Lynn.

Internal search engines differ from public search engines like Google or Bing, in that an internal search engine only searches for content inside the company’s firewall. Google cannot access internal content, therefore companies use search technology to make their content ‘findable.’ “Companies want to keep internal information safe and private. But they still need to find it” explained Lynn. “That’s why they need search technology integrated into their organization’s system.”

For more information on search engines, product search, web portals and search engine migration, visit TNR’s main website. To receive a free copy of the white paper, click here.

TNR Global www.tnrglobal.com, is a systems design and integration company focused on enterprise search and cloud computing solutions for publishing companies, news sites, web directories, academia, enterprise, and SaaS companies. TNR’s past clients include the University of Massachusetts Amherst, Mass Art & Culture, InterNano, Innovara, and the Allegis Group. TNR Global is located at 245 Russell Street, Suite 10 in Hadley, Massachusetts. TNR Global serves clients throughout New England, nationally, and world-wide. Its offices are in Hadley and Greenfield, Massachusetts.

For Many Companies, Migration to a New Search Engine is Inevitable

“It’s basically a road map for companies looking at options for migration, and we outline Solr as a very good option”

HADLEY, MA– March 12, 2012

For more information on search engines, product search, web portals and search engine migration, visit TNR’s main website. To receive a free copy of the white paper, click here.

We’re at Apache Lucene EuroCon in Barcelona 2011

“We’re certain that the urgency to migrate off FAST ESP will be ramping up significantly.”

We’re very excited to be in attendance at the Apache Lucene EuroCon in Barcelona October 17, 18, 19, and 20th, 2011. Our own Michael McIntosh, VP of Search Technologies will be presenting a talk on October 19th, Enterprise Search: FAST ESP to Lucene Solr. The good folks at Lucid Imagination are presenting the conference and will be video recording his talk for future broadcast.

After the conference, Michael will author a White Paper on migrating from FAST ESP to Lucene Solr, expected in November 2011. For a free copy of the White Paper, email us expressing your interest at fast2solr@tnrglobal.com. We believe that those businesses operating on a Linux system will be seeking out the power of Lucene Solr as their licenses expire and support for FAST ESP dries up. We’ve worked with FAST ESP for 7 years and understand it’s strengths and weaknesses. We know businesses who are used to the power of FAST ESP will need something just as powerful, and Lucene Solr is a very nice fit. “It’s a robust platform, capable of a lot that FAST ESP covers,” said Michael. “We’re certain that the urgency to migrate off FAST ESP will be ramping up significantly.”

Migration from Microsoft FAST to Apache Lucene Solr

Is your company using Microsoft FAST ESP on a Linux platform? Unfortunately, Microsoft announced in 2010 they will cease technical support for FAST ESP 5.3 after it’s 5 year life cycle for anyone using Linux as their operation system. Migration to another search platform will be a priority, and business leaders and technology professionals are looking closely at Lucene Solr as a solution.

We can assist your organization in any stage of a migration. We can perform an evaluation of your current architecture, draft a plan for migration, work with your internal team on the migration or just consult as needed. Whatever your specific needs are, we can help you achieve your goals. Read our White Paper released February 2012 that presents a Case Study on migration. The paper discusses:

Loading millions of documents into Solr indexes
Evaluation and recommendations for tools to bridge the features gap
Migrating custom pipeline code to Pypes with minimal changes
Proven ROI after a complete migration

Additionally, we have presented on the subject of FAST ESP to Lucene Solr migrations for the Lucene Revolution Conference in Boston, MA (2010 Slides: Migration from FAST ESP to Lucene Solr (PDF) (pdf:4,067,091) ) and at the Apache Lucene Eurocon (web site dead) Barcelona (October 2011). Watch our VP of Search Technology Michael McIntosh’s presentation on FAST to Lucene Solr Migration below. If you like what you see, contact us to explore a Solr migration solution.

Slide presentation

Enterprise Search White Papers and Presentations

Below are links to our mini white papers, addressing questions about enterprise search and more.

Enterprise Search Basics (pdf:157,797) Enterprise Search and Government (pdf:112,083) Enterprise Search for Law Firms (pdf:110,350) Enterprise Search and E-Discovery (pdf:108,855)

Please contact us for additional information.

Migration from FAST ESP to Lucene Solr, by Michael McIntosh, VP, Enterprise Search Technologies, TNR Global

Video from the Lucene Revolution conference in Boston, MA.

Migration from FAST ESP to Lucene Solr (PDF) (pdf:4,067,091)

presented by Michael McIntosh, VP, Enterprise Search Technologies, TNR Global at the Lucene Revolution Conference in Boston, MA.

There are many reasons that an IT department with a large scale search installation would want to move from a proprietary platform to Lucene Solr. In the case of FAST Search, the company’s purchase by Microsoft and discontinuation of the Linux platform has created an urgency for FAST users.

This presentation compares Lucene/Solr to FAST ESP on a feature basis, and as applied to an enterprise search installation. We explore how various advanced features of commercial enterprise search platforms can be implemented as added functions for Lucene/Solr. Actual cases are presented describing how to map the various functions between systems.