Server modes

The IBM® Content Search Services servers that are registered with a FileNet® P8 domain operate in one of the following modes: index mode, search mode, or dual-mode (index and search mode). A server that operates in index mode is called an index server: the server writes index information for objects to indexes. A server that operates in search mode is called a search server: the server reads the indexes to run full-text searches.

An index belongs to an index area, and an index area belongs to an object store. A server accesses indexes only for object stores that belong to the same FileNet P8 site as the server.

Index servers

An index file can be accessed by only one index server at a time. Content Platform Engine assigns indexes to the available index servers so that the work load is roughly the same for all servers. If an index area belongs to an affinity group, the indexes in that area are assigned to servers that belong to the same group.

Search servers

When a CBR query is submitted, Content Platform Engine selects a search server to run the full-text search for the query. (A full-text search expression is specified as part of the CONTAINS function call in the CBR query.) The default search server selected is the dual-mode server that most recently updated the index that is relevant for the full-text search. The default server might not be eligible to run the search for the following reasons:

  • No server is configured for dual-mode operation.
  • The index server to most recently update the relevant index is not configured for dual-mode operation.
  • The default server is unavailable. For example, the server might be disabled or busy with an index request or with another search request.

If the default server is not eligible to run the search, Content Platform Engine assigns the search request to a randomly selected available search server. The random selection is repeated if the selected search server crashes while running the search.