Welcome to Microsoft Index Server

Microsoft® Index Server indexes the contents and properties of documents on an Internet or intranet Web site served by Microsoft® Internet Information Server (IIS). You can set up Index Server so that clients can search a Web site with any browser by filling in the fields of a query form formatted in HTML. When a client executes a query, the Web server forwards the information typed into the query form to the query engine. The query engine finds the pertinent documents, formats the results as an HTML Web page, and returns the results to the client.

In addition to indexing Web pages in HTML format, Index Server indexes documents formatted by applications such as Microsoft® Word and Microsoft® Excel. Thanks to this feature, you can add documents to a Web site without having to convert them into HTML format.

For more information about Index Server and related features, see the Index Server Web page at the following address:

http://www.microsoft.com/ntserver/search

To search the Microsoft Index Server online documentation, click the Search icon in the top frame, and type your query into the form that appears.

This documentation contains:

Setup: Describes how to install Index Server.
Getting Started: Tells how to quickly set up your site for searching.
Tour of Index Server: Gives a general overview of Index Server by walking you through the main features.
Understanding Index Server: Explains how Index Server works.
The Querying and Indexing Process: Describes query language, indexing, filtering, and scanning.
Building Search Forms: Gives details about how to build and configure search forms.
SQL Access to Index Server Data: Describes how to query sites through SQL syntax.
Administration: Tells how to administer Index Server, handle remote servers, index news services, configure security, and control catalogs.
Troubleshooting: Tells how Index Server handles several kinds of errors, and answers the most frequently asked questions.
Reference: Lists and explains variables in .idq and .htx files, registry parameters, error messages, and terms found in the documentation.