Microsoft Office SharePoint Server 2007's Search feature can support up to 50 million documents in a single index
As we approach RTM milestone for SharePoint Server 2007, I am extremely pleased to announce that the out of the box maximum recommended document limit for search in SharePoint Server 2007 is 50 million documents in a single index limited by hardware. SharePoint Server can support multiple indexes, so deployments above 50 million documents are possible on a custom solution basis. If you have a requirement for searching more than 50 million documents, please contact your Microsoft representative.
Microsoft Office SharePoint Server 2007 for Search (Enterprise Edition) also has an out of the box maximum recommended document limit of 50 million documents in a single index. There is no technically enforced document limit, but this product is limited to having only one index.
Microsoft Office SharePoint Server 2007 for Search (Standard Edition) has a limit of 500,000 documents and is also limited to having only one index.
Answers to some FAQs:
Q: What is a “document” in terms of Search?
A: A document can be anything from a Word or PowerPoint file, to a web page, an individual SharePoint list item, one people entry, or an SAP customer record.
Q: Does a very large document count as more than one item?
A: No. For example, a 10KB Word file and a 10MB Word file are each considered one document.
Q: What is considered to be an “average document size”?
A: This really depends on the content sources and file types that make up a corpus – so “average document size” can be very different for different customer environments. With Windows SharePoint Services 3.0, we now index individual list items (which was not the case with WSS 2.0). As a result, in environments where WSS 3.0 lists are used heavily, the large number of such small “documents” can reduce the average document size to as low as 10KB. Customers making limited use of WSS 3.0 lists will most likely see a larger average document size based on the overall composition of their corpus.
Q: What is the maximum number of indexes supported by SharePoint Server 2007?
A: SharePoint Server 2007 supports a maximum of 20 indexes. SharePoint Server 2007 for Search (Enterprise Edition and Standard Edition) supports only one index.
Q: What are my options if I purchase SharePoint Server 2007 for Search (Standard Edition) and my needs grow?
A: If your search needs exceed the 500,000 document limit of SharePoint Server 2007 for Search you can upgrade to SharePoint Server 2007 for Search (Enterprise Edition) which has no technically enforced document limit. In addition, you can upgrade from SharePoint Server 2007 for Search Standard or Enterprise edition to SharePoint Server 2007 if you wish to take advantage of the enhanced search and integrated information management functionalities provided by SharePoint Server 2007.
Justin Chandoo
Senior Product Manager, SharePoint Search
