Cleveland, Ohio -- Nov. 21, 2005 -- Thunderstone Software announced significant enhancements in the new Enterprise Version 6 of the Thunderstone Search Appliance. The new features help organizations index more types of content than ever before. Enhancements include:
- DATABASE WALKING. Considerable enterprise content is contained in relational databases that cannot be crawled by web search solutions. The new DBWalk technology is designed to index database content that is not otherwise web accessible. Databases supported initially are: Oracle, Microsoft SQL Server, PostgreSQL, Sybase, and Thunderstone Texis. An example use is for making the text descriptions in a parts catalog database searchable on the company's intranet.
- DATA LOADING. The new DataLoad API (application program interface) provides a way to index data where crawling is not practical or where real-time updating is important. The API allows the Appliance to accept data feeds from external sources. Example uses are for newswires, discussion forums, and similar sources that have a continuing flow of new items.
- RESULT AUTHORIZATION. In many enterprise search situations, not every user is entitled to see every document indexed. Search results must contain only links to documents that each particular user has permission to read. The Search Appliance now offers several methods to accomplish result authorization, designed for different intranet environments. The authorization technology applies to searches of databases, file systems, and web sites. An example use is to enable sales personnel to search customer contracts in a corporate legal archive, while keeping other legal documents confidential.
- SNMP (Simple Network Monitoring Protocol). Many enterprise system administrators rely on the industry-standard SNMP to remotely track performance of servers in many locations. The Search Appliance now may be monitored in the same manner. Example resources that may be checked are disk space, system load, and critical processes.
ABOUT THE THUNDERSTONE SEARCH APPLIANCE
The Thunderstone Search Appliance provides a "plug and play" search solution for intra-nets and web sites. It indexes most document formats and can be extensively customized by non-technical managers. Previously introduced enterprise-level features include file system crawling; distributed administration; and data mirroring.
The Thunderstone Search Appliance was rated a "Great Choice" and praised for "simplicity, low cost of ownership, and extensibility" in a recent independent analysis by the Patricia Seybold Group. Appliances scale up to handle collections with many of millions of documents. Example acquisition cost is $15,000 for a version to index 500,000 documents. U.S. government customers may purchase Search Appliances through the GSA Schedule.
Thunderstone Software LLC is a pioneer of search engine technology, providing text retrieval products to industry, government, and educational institutions since 1981. For more information, contact Thunderstone at +1 216-820-2200, 
, or http://www.thunderstone.com.
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