Microsoft Sharepoint Products and Technologies Resource Kit eBook

Summary
Chapter 21: The Architecture of the Gatherer 605
indexes containing fewer documents. The time for propagation also depends on the
network connection to the search servers.
Indexes are propagated to all search servers. If you stop propagation of an
index, you will not be able to see it on any search server unless you stopped the
propagation after it was successful on some servers but not on others. When this
occurs, the propagation page will show that the propagation was successful, but
with errors on specific servers.
Perform the following steps to stop content index propagation:
1. On the SharePoint Portal Server Central Administration For Server server_name
page, click Configure search and indexing.
2. On the Manage The Search Service For SharePoint Portal Server page, in the
Indexes section, click Manage propagation.
3. On the Search Propagation page, rest the pointer on the index name and then
click the arrow that appears.
4. On the menu that appears, click Stop Propagation.
Note There is no concept of pause or resume in propagation. If the propagation
does not complete for any reason it must be started again from the
beginning.
A portal site can contain a disparate set of documents that number in the hundreds
of thousands. One of the overriding advantages of using portal sites is the ability to
make documents in different formats and locations available for searching. The process
of indexing these documents can take a significant amount of time and
resources. Processor and disk resources are heavily used while an index is being
created. Indexes also need to be updated constantly, while still remaining available
for client searches.
SharePoint Portal Server contains several components that optimize both the
indexing and searching processes. These components work together to break down
the text and property information to create efficient indexes. Many of these same
components also process client queries so that a client can receive a thorough result
set without needing to submit multiple queries.