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Kas Thomas

Microsoft leaves Linux-based FAST customers stranded

9-Feb-2010

Tags: Enterprise Search, Evaluating SharePoint,

Buyers of the Linux and UNIX versions of FAST's Enterprise Search Platform (ESP) got some bad news the other day: It'll now be necessary to switch to a Windows server platform, or else move to some other product for enterprise search.

Microsoft Corporation, which as you may recall acquired FAST two years ago for $1.2 billion, has confirmed it will stop development of FAST's ESP core on Linux and Unix after the release of SharePoint 2010 later this year. Microsoft has in effect said it will now build its FAST search engine only for Windows.

FAST chief technology officer Bjørn Olstad hinted there will be an upgrade program to move customers to a hosted search service or FAST on Windows. He also said Microsoft will support ESP 5.3 throughout its product lifecycle of five years' mainstream support and five years' extended support. (Extended support for ESP 5.3 will end on July 16, 2018.)

We suspect that some FAST customers will use this as an opportunity to look at OS-neutral search solutions, of which there are many. Let's put it this way, it would be surprising if FAST's Linux customers did not look for alternatives to FAST at this point, because presumably these customers chose Linux for well-considered reasons (most likely involving security or performance) in the first place.  They won't be easily persuaded to invest in Windows servers now if that was not the original plan.

It's not just a matter of swapping out boxes. It's also a matter of having appropriately trained personnel in place to set up and administer a Windows-server cluster instead of a Linux one -- and accepting the security trade-offs that come with moving from Linux to Windows. That's not something a Linux customer relishes thinking about.

For more on FAST and your alternatives, consider our Search and Information Access Research.  We'll keep our subscribers informed of developments as soon as we learn about them.