TechEd 2013: Search Architecture, Sizing, and Migration in Microsoft SharePoint 2013

From the session description:

Successful SharePoint deployments have one thing in common: great search!

So, true – here are my session notes from the Search Architecture, Sizing, and Migration in Microsoft SharePoint 2013 session.

Session by Jan Inge Bergseth (MSFT, Search Center of Excellence). Slides + Video of the NA TechEd here, but with a different speaker.

Architecture

I know a quite a lot about this topic, it was a pretty short overview about the architectural changes. The slides are based on the SPC slides (SPC202) – and that’s a good thing.

Demo

Jan showed how easy it is to add Metadata and visualize them as a pie chart refiner in the search results page.

Analytics Service

I should invest more time with this beauty –  there is some hidden potential when you ask for “Suggested sites to follow” or “Are you looking for these again?”.

Migration Scenarios

Okay, there is new information here. I had in mind that there is now migration story from FAST Search Server to SharePoint 2013 – but it seems there is one:

Maybe its supported, but the custom PowerShell line could be a “It depends!”. Jan said “undocumented”.

Backup and Restore

Everything but the index is in the database.

My questions after the session:

Is there a rule of thumb for index size?

Not an official one.

Will there be Search Performance Evaluation with the same level of detail as there was for FAST Search Server For SharePoint 2010?

Some started it – but it’s either not finished or not yet published. Too bad, I read the one for FAST several times.

Is there an out of the box solution to this question?

Not ad-hoc. Follow up mail with questions is on the way.

My evaluation

Search – could talk and listen to this topic forever! The session is great by design. Okay, back to reality: Detailed session but I wish there would be a deeper session (Level 400, anyone?) for this. I learned the most after the sessions because the questions of the attendees covered the edge cases and tough situations. Still, enjoyed the session!