NEW! SearchBlox 10.7: Launch AI Agents that Make Business Processes Hyper Efficient. Get Started.

NEW! SearchBlox 10.7: Launch AI Agents that Make Business Processes Hyper Efficient. Get Started.

NEW! SearchBlox 10.7: Launch AI Agents that Make Business Processes Hyper Efficient. Get Started.

understanding the four stages of enterprise search white paper video background image

What is Elasticsearch?




What is Elasticsearch?



September 3, 2020





Look at the diagram below.



We build our search products on Elasticsearch because it’s the world’s leading open source search and analytics solution. Elasticsearch is built on the Apache Lucene library, a product of the Apache Software Foundation, a nonprofit, decentralized, open source community of developers.


Unlike Google and other popular search engines designed for consumer use, the Elasticsearch engine is used by businesses that require enterprise search.

Leading tech companies, including Uber, Slack, Shopify and Robinhood use Elasticsearch. Internally, businesses use it for quick and seamless access to data and log analytics across an entire database. Externally, businesses use Elasticsearch to provide customers near-instant results for their queries.


Elasticsearch offers a number of advantages to these businesses. But before we discuss those, it helps to understand how the Elasticsearch engine works.

When you use a conventional SQL or relational database, which stores information in columns and rows that are “related” to each other, complex queries of large amounts of information can take a long time. Those delays can cost you customers and reduce productivity.


Elasticsearch is a distributed, document-oriented search engine, which means it’s great at quickly searching large volumes of structured, semi-structured, and unstructured data as well as geo data. NoSQL databases like Elasticsearch scale easily, enabling them to use additional nodes as the database becomes more robust. (More about that later.)

An introduction to this powerful, popular search engine.



Who Needs Elasticsearch?




How Does Elasticsearch Work?






What is Elasticsearch?



What is Elasticsearch?


SearchBlox Products



Enterprise Search

Enterprise Search

Fully Managed Enterprise Search on AWS

Fully Managed Enterprise Search on AWS

Platinum Support

Platinum Support

SearchAI Answers

SearchAI Answers

SearchAI SmartSuggest

SearchAI SmartSuggest

Site Search

Site Search

eCommerce Search

eCommerce Search

Deployment Options

SaaS

SaaS

Self-managed On-prem

Self-managed On-prem

Self-managed in the Cloud

Self-managed in the Cloud

Fully Managed in the Cloud

Fully Managed in the Cloud

Elasticsearch is the heart of the ELK Stack, which includes Elasticsearch, Logstash, Kibana and Beats.


Scalability and Resilience






Scalability and Resilience






Relevance




Relevance




Speed




Speed




What Are The Advantages of Elasticsearch?







Elasticsearch offers speed, relevance and scalability and resiliency. Let’s take a closer look at each of these.




Elasticsearch collects data from web apps, log analytics and system metrics before indexing it so the data can be retrieved with a search query. All search engines index data, but Elasticsearch’s scalability allows it to scale more data, faster. To appreciate how, you have to understand a bit more about indices.


An index is a collection of data that has a similar structure. Elasticsearch stores these data as JSON documents and each of those JSON documents contains a key and a value. Elasticsearch uses an inverted index to search the documents. The keys and values are what make the inverted index work.


In other words, an inverted index maps each unique “word” to the list of documents containing that word, which makes it possible for Elasticsearch to look for, find and retrieve documents with the given keywords very quickly.


To understand how this makes Elasticsearch faster, think about how much faster you can find a specific word in a printed book using the index at the back of the book rather than scanning each individual page for that word.


Elasticsearch collects data from web apps, log analytics and system metrics before indexing it so the data can be retrieved with a search query. All search engines index data, but Elasticsearch’s scalability allows it to scale more data, faster. To appreciate how, you have to understand a bit more about indices.


An index is a collection of data that has a similar structure. Elasticsearch stores these data as JSON documents and each of those JSON documents contains a key and a value. Elasticsearch uses an inverted index to search the documents. The keys and values are what make the inverted index work.


In other words, an inverted index maps each unique “word” to the list of documents containing that word, which makes it possible for Elasticsearch to look for, find and retrieve documents with the given keywords very quickly.


To understand how this makes Elasticsearch faster, think about how much faster you can find a specific word in a printed book using the index at the back of the book rather than scanning each individual page for that word.


Searching a structured database is simple. The data in the document or row (if you’re talking about relational databases) either does or does not match the query. And while Elasticsearch does use the same Boolean yes/no matches structured databases do, it also sorts the matching documents by relevance so you’ll see the best matches first.

Above Elasticsearch, you’ll see the SearchBlox solutions we’ve built using this powerful technology combined with our own proprietary features. (You can click on any of these solutions to learn more.) Below the stack, you’ll see your deployment options: search as a service (SaaS), self-managed on-prem or in the cloud, and fully managed in the cloud.




Above Elasticsearch, you’ll see the SearchBlox solutions we’ve built using this powerful technology combined with our own proprietary features. (You can click on any of these solutions to learn more.) Below the stack, you’ll see your deployment options: search as a service (SaaS), self-managed on-prem or in the cloud, and fully managed in the cloud.




Kibana is a data visualization dashboard for Elasticsearch.






Beats are data shippers, which send data from machines and systems to Elasticsearch or Logstash.







Logstash is responsible for the extraction or collection of data from a variety of sources, transforming it and loading it where it’s stored. This is sometimes referred to as ETL (extraction, transformation, loading) of data.




Searching a structured database is simple. The data in the document or row (if you’re talking about relational databases) either does or does not match the query. And while Elasticsearch does use the same Boolean yes/no matches structured databases do, it also sorts the matching documents by relevance so you’ll see the best matches first.

Logstash is responsible for the extraction or collection of data from a variety of sources, transforming it and loading it where it’s stored. This is sometimes referred to as ETL (extraction, transformation, loading) of data.




Beats are data shippers, which send data from machines and systems to Elasticsearch or Logstash.







Elasticsearch collects data from web apps, log analytics and system metrics before indexing it so the data can be retrieved with a search query. All search engines index data, but Elasticsearch’s scalability allows it to scale more data, faster. To appreciate how, you have to understand a bit more about indices.


An index is a collection of data that has a similar structure. Elasticsearch stores these data as JSON documents and each of those JSON documents contains a key and a value. Elasticsearch uses an inverted index to search the documents. The keys and values are what make the inverted index work.


In other words, an inverted index maps each unique “word” to the list of documents containing that word, which makes it possible for Elasticsearch to look for, find and retrieve documents with the given keywords very quickly.


To understand how this makes Elasticsearch faster, think about how much faster you can find a specific word in a printed book using the index at the back of the book rather than scanning each individual page for that word.


Scalability and Resilience






We help clients maximize their return on their Elasticsearch investment.



We support 37 languages and more than 40 document formats, from email and mp3 files, to PowerPoint documents and PDFs.


For these reasons, more than 400 enterprises in 30 countries choose SearchBlox.


Our pricing includes connectors to 150 different data sources. So SearchBlox products connect to your teams’ favorite tools, including Slack, ServiceNow, GitHub, Google Drive, Sharepoint, SalesForce and Amazon Web Services (AWS). We also offer more integrations right out of the box, so you can embed search where your teams work: WordPress, Drupal, Sitecore, React, Agular, etc.




Our pricing includes connectors to 150 different data sources. So SearchBlox products connect to your teams’ favorite tools, including Slack, ServiceNow, GitHub, Google Drive, Sharepoint, SalesForce and Amazon Web Services (AWS). We also offer more integrations right out of the box, so you can embed search where your teams work: WordPress, Drupal, Sitecore, React, Agular, etc.




We offer transparent, upfront annual pricing. We even offer flat-fee pricing for our Fully Managed Enterprise Search on AWS, offering you all the efficiencies of cloud computing without requiring you to manage infrastructure or software. With SearchBlox you’ll stay on budget and avoid surprises.





We offer transparent, upfront annual pricing. We even offer flat-fee pricing for our Fully Managed Enterprise Search on AWS, offering you all the efficiencies of cloud computing without requiring you to manage infrastructure or software. With SearchBlox you’ll stay on budget and avoid surprises.





Certain industries, including government, healthcare and financial services, deal with sensitive data that requires high levels of privacy and data protection. So we offer Platinum Support, which enables you to search encrypted data while protecting your customers’ Personally Identifiable Information (PII). To learn more about protecting your data on Elasticsearch, read this blog post about searchable encryption.






We continually scan and patch our enterprise search product to ensure that you and your data have the best protection against security vulnerabilities.







We continually scan and patch our enterprise search product to ensure that you and your data have the best protection against security vulnerabilities.







Search users sometimes struggle to choose the correct search terms. And when they can’t find what they want or need, they bounce.


Autocomplete tools only provide suggestions that start with a keyword or phrase. SearchAI SmartSuggest offers complete phrases associated with the keyword or phrase you type, more accurately predicting your search intent





Search users sometimes struggle to choose the correct search terms. And when they can’t find what they want or need, they bounce.


Autocomplete tools only provide suggestions that start with a keyword or phrase. SearchAI SmartSuggest offers complete phrases associated with the keyword or phrase you type, more accurately predicting your search intent





Customers and employees don’t want to wade through pages of search results to find relevant answers. SearchAI Answers understands natural language and provides a featured answer using a model we create with your content. SearchAI Answers can respond to natural language queries on a search results page, in a chatbot and via voice assistant.



We offer advanced features including a web admin console to simplify indices management.




We help you choose the search product that meets your requirements and let you try it for free — with support — for 30 days. Then we deploy and implement it remotely faster than your internal teams can. In fact, we can deploy our Elasticsearch-based products for you in a matter of days.



We help you choose the search product that meets your requirements and let you try it for free — with support — for 30 days. Then we deploy and implement it remotely faster than your internal teams can. In fact, we can deploy our Elasticsearch-based products for you in a matter of days.



Faster Time to Market






Out-of-the-box Functionality







Transparent Pricing








Searchable Encryption










Enterprise-Grade Security












Increased Relevance













Natural Language Queries














Indices Management















More Languages + Document Types
















What Are The Advantages of SearchBlox Products Built on Elasticsearch?








Customers and employees don’t want to wade through pages of search results to find relevant answers. SearchAI Answers understands natural language and provides a featured answer using a model we create with your content. SearchAI Answers can respond to natural language queries on a search results page, in a chatbot and via voice assistant.



We support 37 languages and more than 40 document formats, from email and mp3 files, to PowerPoint documents and PDFs.


For these reasons, more than 400 enterprises in 30 countries choose SearchBlox.


Certain industries, including government, healthcare and financial services, deal with sensitive data that requires high levels of privacy and data protection. So we offer Platinum Support, which enables you to search encrypted data while protecting your customers’ Personally Identifiable Information (PII). To learn more about protecting your data on Elasticsearch, read this blog post about searchable encryption.






What Are The Advantages of SearchBlox Products Built on Elasticsearch?








We help clients maximize their return on their Elasticsearch investment.



We support 37 languages and more than 40 document formats, from email and mp3 files, to PowerPoint documents and PDFs.


For these reasons, more than 400 enterprises in 30 countries choose SearchBlox.


Our pricing includes connectors to 150 different data sources. So SearchBlox products connect to your teams’ favorite tools, including Slack, ServiceNow, GitHub, Google Drive, Sharepoint, SalesForce and Amazon Web Services (AWS). We also offer more integrations right out of the box, so you can embed search where your teams work: WordPress, Drupal, Sitecore, React, Agular, etc.




Our pricing includes connectors to 150 different data sources. So SearchBlox products connect to your teams’ favorite tools, including Slack, ServiceNow, GitHub, Google Drive, Sharepoint, SalesForce and Amazon Web Services (AWS). We also offer more integrations right out of the box, so you can embed search where your teams work: WordPress, Drupal, Sitecore, React, Agular, etc.




We offer transparent, upfront annual pricing. We even offer flat-fee pricing for our Fully Managed Enterprise Search on AWS, offering you all the efficiencies of cloud computing without requiring you to manage infrastructure or software. With SearchBlox you’ll stay on budget and avoid surprises.





We offer transparent, upfront annual pricing. We even offer flat-fee pricing for our Fully Managed Enterprise Search on AWS, offering you all the efficiencies of cloud computing without requiring you to manage infrastructure or software. With SearchBlox you’ll stay on budget and avoid surprises.





Certain industries, including government, healthcare and financial services, deal with sensitive data that requires high levels of privacy and data protection. So we offer Platinum Support, which enables you to search encrypted data while protecting your customers’ Personally Identifiable Information (PII). To learn more about protecting your data on Elasticsearch, read this blog post about searchable encryption.






We continually scan and patch our enterprise search product to ensure that you and your data have the best protection against security vulnerabilities.







We continually scan and patch our enterprise search product to ensure that you and your data have the best protection against security vulnerabilities.







Search users sometimes struggle to choose the correct search terms. And when they can’t find what they want or need, they bounce.


Autocomplete tools only provide suggestions that start with a keyword or phrase. SearchAI SmartSuggest offers complete phrases associated with the keyword or phrase you type, more accurately predicting your search intent





Search users sometimes struggle to choose the correct search terms. And when they can’t find what they want or need, they bounce.


Autocomplete tools only provide suggestions that start with a keyword or phrase. SearchAI SmartSuggest offers complete phrases associated with the keyword or phrase you type, more accurately predicting your search intent





Customers and employees don’t want to wade through pages of search results to find relevant answers. SearchAI Answers understands natural language and provides a featured answer using a model we create with your content. SearchAI Answers can respond to natural language queries on a search results page, in a chatbot and via voice assistant.



We offer advanced features including a web admin console to simplify indices management.




We help you choose the search product that meets your requirements and let you try it for free — with support — for 30 days. Then we deploy and implement it remotely faster than your internal teams can. In fact, we can deploy our Elasticsearch-based products for you in a matter of days.



We help you choose the search product that meets your requirements and let you try it for free — with support — for 30 days. Then we deploy and implement it remotely faster than your internal teams can. In fact, we can deploy our Elasticsearch-based products for you in a matter of days.



Faster Time to Market






Out-of-the-box Functionality







Transparent Pricing








Searchable Encryption










Enterprise-Grade Security












Increased Relevance













Natural Language Queries














Indices Management















More Languages + Document Types
















What Are The Advantages of SearchBlox Products Built on Elasticsearch?








Customers and employees don’t want to wade through pages of search results to find relevant answers. SearchAI Answers understands natural language and provides a featured answer using a model we create with your content. SearchAI Answers can respond to natural language queries on a search results page, in a chatbot and via voice assistant.



We support 37 languages and more than 40 document formats, from email and mp3 files, to PowerPoint documents and PDFs.


For these reasons, more than 400 enterprises in 30 countries choose SearchBlox.


Certain industries, including government, healthcare and financial services, deal with sensitive data that requires high levels of privacy and data protection. So we offer Platinum Support, which enables you to search encrypted data while protecting your customers’ Personally Identifiable Information (PII). To learn more about protecting your data on Elasticsearch, read this blog post about searchable encryption.






What Are The Advantages of SearchBlox Products Built on Elasticsearch?








We help you make the most of your investment in Elasticsearch.


We help you make the most of your investment in Elasticsearch.


Elasticsearch is a trademark of Elasticsearch B.V., registered in the U.S. and in other countries.


Apache, Apache Lucene, Apache Hadoop, Hadoop, HDFS, and the yellow elephant logo are trademarks of the Apache Software Foundation in the United States and/or other countries.