This document discusses the key role of search in SharePoint 2013 and new search-related features. It provides an overview of the search architecture and components in SharePoint 2013. It also demonstrates query rules and the content search web part. Cross-site publishing is overviewed as another search-dependent feature. The document emphasizes the importance of high availability for search and provides a sample PowerShell script for cloning an active search topology.

1. Search: The Heart of
SharePoint 2013
David Tappan, IOAP, MCITP:EA; MCP: SharePoint
davidt@cdh.com
June 26, 2013

2. About C/D/H
C/D/H is a highly specialized consulting
firm providing professional technology
consulting services to clients throughout
the Midwest from our offices in the
Detroit area and Grand Rapids.
Microsoft Gold Partner
SharePoint Planning Services
(SDPS) Partner

3. About me
David Tappan
Consultant
MCITP:EA, MCTS: SharePoint, IOAp
DavidT@cdh.com

4. Key Messages
1. Search is at the heart of many new features of SharePoint 2013
2. Query and content processing features combine the power of FAST–
and then some – with the ease of administration of SharePoint
Search.
3. Administration of much of search can be delegated—more so than in
SharePoint 2010.
4. Given the centrality of search in 2013, high availability is no longer an
option.

5. SharePoint 2013 Search-Dependent Features
• Content Search web part
• Cross-site publishing
• Social features (Newsfeed)
• e-Discovery
• My Tasks, Popular Items, etc.
• Usage Analytics
• Traditional search pages
–Search Results web part

6. Query Rules and Result Sources

7. The essence of Search
Document
Document
Representation
Information
Need
Query

8. The essence of Search
Document
Document
Representation
Information
Need
Query
What does the document mean?

9. The essence of Search
Document
Document
Representation
Information
Need
Query
What does the document mean? What does the user want?

10. The essence of Search
Document
Document
Representation
Information
Need
QueryMatch!
Content Processing Query Processing
What does the document mean? What does the user want?

11. SharePoint 2013 Search Components
Content
Sources
User Profile
HTTP
Other
File Share
SharePoint
Content
Processing
Component
Crawl
Component
Crawl
Database(s)
Analytics
Processing
Component
Analytics
Database
Index
Component
Link
Database
Query
Processing
Component
Event Store
Index
Partition(s)
End User Query
Or
Process Initiated
Query
Content Query

12. Query Processing Enhancements
• Analytics provides information about common queries and clickthroughs.
• Result sources replace search scopes, and take full advantage of query transforms
based on site, user and analytics to provide dynamic scopes.
• Query rules provide guidance about how to:
–promote relevant results (formerly Best Bets)
–surface result blocks that present the right properties in a way that makes sense visually
–Enhance the relevance of certain results
• Dictionaries used in query rules are maintained in Managed Metadata term sets.
–MMS dictionaries are not used in entity extraction, unfortunately—but that seems a good bet for
the future.

13. Query Rules
• The primary purpose of query rules is to enable search to better
understand and respond to likely user intent.

14. Query Rules Scope
• Query rules can be
created in four scopes.
–On Premise or Online:
• Site Collection or Site
–On Premise only:
• Farm
–Online only:
• Tenant

15. Query Rules
• Query rules have three elements:
–Conditions: When should the rule be
applied?
–Actions: What to do when the rule is
matched?
–Publishing: When should the rule be
active?

16. Query Rule Actions
• Add Promoted Result
• Add Promoted Block
• Add Ranked Block
• Change Ranked Results

17. Query transforms and query variables
• Query transforms used in:
–In a Web Part
–In a query rule
–In the result source

18. Query rules can be cumulative
searchTerms: cameras
contenttype:T site:S
result source: Asset Results
sort: rank
searchTerms:
cameras
result source: default
sort: rank
searchTerms: cameras
result source: Local
SharePoint
sort: date
searchTerms: cameras
contenttype:T
result source: Asset Results
sort: date

19. Query transforms and query variables
• Query transforms can include static properties
(the old “Append text to query”)
• OR they can use query variables:
–Any site or site collection property for the current site
–URL query string parameters
–Any user profile profile property for the current user

20. Result Sources and Query Rules
Query Rules Demonstration

21. Content search web part
• Used mostly for “search solutions”—no
query needed.
• Solves a lot of problems rolling up
content in SharePoint 2010:
–Rolling up content across site collections
without needing custom code
–Dynamic queries based on any property
–Separate queries/result sources per web
part.
–Formatting with HTML rather than XSLT
• Many built in web parts are based on
Content Search

22. Content Search Web Part
Demonstration

23. Overview of Cross-Site Publishing
1. Content is created in libraries and lists that are shared as catalogs
in the authoring site collection.
2. The search system crawls the content and builds the search index.
3. A user views a page on
a publishing site, which
triggers queries from
Search Web Parts.
4. Results are returned
from the search index,
and shown in Content
Search Web Parts on
the page.
5. Pages have friendly
URLs based on
Managed Metadata
terms that drive the
queries. Overview of cross-site publishing in SharePoint Server 2013, http://technet.Microsoft.com

24. Search Fault Tolerance

25. “Small” Search Farm Architectures
(~10 M items)

26. Search architecture changes via PowerShell only!
#clone the Active search topology
$ssa = Get-SPServiceApplication -Name “Search Service
Applicatio
$active = Get-SPEnterpriseSearchTopology -
SearchApplication $ssa -Active;
$clone = New-SPEnterpriseSearchTopology -Clone -
SearchApplication $ssa -SearchTopology $active;
#Start the EnterPrise Search Component on wfe
$WFE01 = Get-SPEnterpriseSearchServiceInstance -Identity
“WFE01″;
Start-SPEnterpriseSearchServiceInstance -Identity $WFE01;
# wait for 5 mins to start the search services
sleep 5;
# Make sure the search service instance status online
before proceeding next steps
Get-SPEnterpriseSearchServiceInstance -Identity $WFE01;
# wait untill the status online before proceeding next
steps, once the status online
# Add index replica on wfe
New-SPEnterpriseSearchIndexComponent -SearchTopology
$clone -SearchServiceInstance $WFE01 -IndexPartition 0;
#Activate the cloned search topology
Set-SPEnterpriseSearchTopology -Identity $clone;
#At this point PowerShell command prompt freezes until
the search topology active. once it is active you can
refresh the Search service application and see the
topology changes;
#Repeat the same process for WFE02.

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