The minimum configuration requirements for Index Server are fundamentally the same as for Microsoft Windows NT Server. However, the configuration for optimum performance depends upon the number of documents, size of the data corpus, and the rate of queries. A 486/DX4-100 computer with 32 megabytes of memory running Windows NT Server 4.0 handles queries well if the number of simultaneous queries is not too high. For a small organization, this may be sufficient; but for a larger group serving more users, more powerful hardware is recommended.
The recommended configuration for Index Server depends upon the following factors:
The following table shows recommended memory configuration based on the number of documents. The size of the corpus affects the disk space needed for storing Index Server data. The disk space needed for Index Server data in all the cases is approximately40 percent of the size of the corpus. While the average usage is less than 30 percent of the corpus, the peak usage of disk space can be 40 percent.
| Number of Documents | Minimum Memory (in megabytes) |
Recommended Memory (in megabytes) |
|---|---|---|
| Fewer than 10,000 | 32 for Windows NT Server | Same as minimum |
| Fewer than 100,000 | 32 | 32 |
| 100,000-250,000 | 32 | 64-128 |
| 250,000-500,000 | 64 | 128-256 |
| 500,000 or more | 128 | 256 or more |
A faster CPU and more memory improves the performance of indexing as well as speed of queries. If the number of documents is very large, not having enough memory will seriously affect performance. If you see that performance is slow when Index Server is running, add more memory to improve the situation.