If you have a hosted site, share a Web server, or are just not very technical, you might be worried about the work involved in setting up a search tool. The good news is that the search engine doesn't have to be on the same server as the site itself, meaning you can just sign up for one of the search services and let it handle the technical configuration and server strain.
There are some advantages to remote site search services.
The software is all on someone else's server, so you have one fewer program to worry about.
There's a low up-front cost since you save on paying for software and technical staff time. Also, many search tools are free, completely supported by advertising.
Servers are often in data centers with system administrators dedicated to keeping the machines up 24 hours a day — something you might not be able to do on your own.
Index files are stored on the search service's servers, saving you disk space.
Indexing and searching eat up its CPU cycles instead of yours.
The administration systems are usually easy and browser-based, so you don't have to deal with config files or command lines.
Robot indexers and search engines work just as well remotely as they do locally.
On the other hand, there are some advantages to keeping your search engine local. Intranets, for example, often have internal data that should be kept private, and so their searching should be kept to in-house machines. And there are other pros.
You have more control over the indexing process, including how often your site is indexed.
You can become a portal, indexing other people's sites, which is trickier with remote search services.
Special features, such as indexing integration with internal databases, are much easier to implement.
Software can be free, sometimes open source, and there is no continuing cost beyond staff time.
You control the search engine accessibility and response time.
You have more control over the search results pages, including page design and advertising (if any).
If you pay per byte for data served, in-house searching may save you a considerable amount of money.
If you've made the decision to use a remote search tool, you'll first need to prepare your site. Let's go to work.
