Configure index and query server roles (Search Server 2008)

  • Article

Applies To: Microsoft Search Server 2008

 

Topic Last Modified: 2008-10-29

Note

The information in this article pertains to Microsoft Search Server 2008 only. It does not pertain to Microsoft Search Server 2008 Express.

After you install Search Server 2008 on the first computer in a deployment by using the Advanced installation option, you can add application servers and front-end Web servers to the deployment according to your needs. Each time that you add an application server, you must configure the index server role and the query server role on all application servers in the farm so that exactly one application server functions as the index server and the remaining application servers function as query servers. (A Search Server 2008 farm has exactly one index server and can have multiple separate query servers.) This article explains how to enable index and query server roles as necessary for a Search Server 2008 farm.

Understanding index and query server roles

In a Search Server 2008 deployment, an application server is a computer on which one or both of the following roles are installed and enabled:

  • The index server role, which crawls and indexes content.

  • The query server role, which serves search queries.

An application server that has the index server role enabled functions as the index server for the farm. An application server that has the query server role enabled functions as a query server for the farm.

In a single-server deployment, Search Server 2008 automatically enables the index server role and query server role on the stand-alone server. In this way, the single application server functions as both index server and query server for the deployment.

Configuring index and query server roles when you add application servers

When you add a second application server to a deployment, typically you separate the index server role and query server role to different computers in the following way:

  • On the original application server, disable the query server role and ensure that the index server role remains enabled. In this way, the original application server continues to function as the index server, but not as a query server.

  • On the second application server, enable the query server role but not the index server role. In this way, the second application server functions as a query server, but not as the index server.

Each time subsequently that you add an application server to the deployment, you must ensure that the query server role, but not the index server role, is enabled on that application server.

Note

For more information about using query servers, see the following resources:

To enable or disable the index server role or query server role

Use this procedure to enable or disable the index server role or query server role on a particular application server.

Note

To perform this procedure you must be a search services administrator and a member of the Administrators group on the server that you are configuring. For more information, see Add or remove a search services administrator (Search Server 2008).

Enable or disable the index server role or query server role

  1. In Central Administration, on the Operations tab, in the Topology and Services section, click Services on server.

  2. On the Services on Server page:

    1. If the server name that appears is not the server you want to configure, click the arrow next to the server name, click Change Server, and then click the index server.

    2. In the Start services in the table below section, click Office SharePoint Server Search.

  3. On the Configure Office SharePoint Server Search Service Settings page, in the Query and Indexing section, assign application server roles for the server as appropriate:

    • To enable the index server role on the computer, select Use this server for indexing content.

    • To enable the query server role on the computer, select Use this server for serving search queries.

  4. To return to the Services on Server page, click OK.

See Also

Concepts

Install Search Server 2008 or Search Server 2008 Express
Plan to deploy Search Server 2008 or Search Server 2008 Express
Add query servers to expand a farm (Search Server 2008)