Sphinx Search 2.0.0 for vBulletin Released

[Floren]

Sphinx Search 2.0.0 for vBulletin

We're pleased to announce the first stable, supported release of Sphinx Search 2.0.x for vBulletin.
The product integrates the Sphinx Search full-text engine as a search alternative for default vBulletin engine. The version released today is available to all customers with valid and active licenses, at no extra cost. It will be offered as the primary choice to those making new purchases. We recommend that all customers with active licenses upgrade to Sphinx 2.0.0.

Note: You must be running vBulletin 3.8.0 or later to install Sphinx 2.0.0 version.

New features in version 2.0.0
There are many new features and improvements to existing functionality in Sphinx Search 2.0.0 over 1.2.x. Here is a brief list of the highlights.

• search status [screencast available soon]
• search logs [screencast available soon]
• search keywords [screencast available soon]
• search instant updates [screencast available soon]

OS, PHP and MySQL Requirements

Sphinx Search 2.0.0 requires at least PHP 4.3.3 and MySQL 5.0.3 versions. We strongly recommend that all customers run PHP 5.2.9 with XCache and MySQL 5.0.45 or later. Major performance benefits can be had by taking the recommended route rather than simply satisfying the required versions.

Our custom Sphinx RPM's are designed for Redhat/CentOS 5.x 64 bits versions and facilitate the vBulletin forum integration. We strongly recommend you to upgrade your server OS to latest version, in order to benefit from improved stability and new software packages. If you run a different distro, we can detail all Sphinx Server setup instructions to your server administrator, instead of running the RPM installation. We do not support any Windows configurations.

Template Changes

All templates managed by Sphinx Search Product are currently located under their own distinct group.

Support for 1.x.x

This release supersedes the 1.2 branch as our primary product. Active maintenance of 1.2, including fixes for functionality breaks and security problems, will continue for approximately three months (to 1st July 2009), after which only security fixes will be released. Upon the release of Sphinx Search 2.1, the 1.2 branch will be end-of-life'd and no further security fixes will be made available and customers will be advised to upgrade to Sphinx Search 2.0 or newer in order to gain fixes.

Bug Reports

As with any software, bugs will appear. If you find a problem that you believe to be a bug, please don't post about it on the forums, but instead use the dedicated bug tracker to make a report that can be tracked through to completion.

Before reporting a bug, please ensure you are able to reproduce the problem on a board using a default, uncustomized style with all plugins disabled.

Service Inquiries

If you have any questions related to Sphinx Search product, please register and open a ticket. All tickets are strictly confidential. Alternatively, you can send us an email through our contact form.

[Floren]

Technical Improvements and Changes

Most of Sphinx Search Product for vBulletin improvements are done in the background, unfortunately. That is why, most of the time, those changes are not really visible to the "untrained" eye. I will highlight the most important technical changes that occurred into 2.0.0 version:

• Easy vBulletin Upgrades
  Version 2.0.0 is compatible with vBulletin 3.8.0+ version. As much as I wanted not to modify at any level the original vBulletin files, an actual PHP limitation forced me to add one single line of code. In other words, to have the search product installed and 100% functional, you will have to add one line of code, into a vBulletin file. No template edits are necessary. Because the extensive changes occurred between the 1.2.x and 2.0.x branch, we offer a free technical upgrade to all current customers with an active license.
  
  
• Server Friendly
  Version 2.0.0 is also a complete rewrite. When we developed the software, it was written with performance in mind. No options were added that could increase the server load. This is our main philosophy, since we launched the search product. Beside the fact that everything we write is tested into an array of 3 servers exposed to multiple stress tests, we also have direct feedback from large forums with over 30 million posts who use our product or services. After installing the product, Disney Boards reported their server load increase was only 0.02, compared to their forums with search engine completely turned off. Also, because the friendly API design, you can create your own application in a snap. For example, you can maintain a list of search keywords without adding stress to the server:
  
  
  
  
• Developer Friendly
  We developed our own custom API, integrated perfectly with vBulletin software. The new version is designed to expand the Sphinx usage in other forum areas, not only searching. We plan to release free products to all customers who currently have our Sphinx Product installed. For example, the first product will be the Latest Forum Threads, posted into your forum front page. The product is very useful because it will allow you to understand how to use our custom API. Also, the new version has several hooks placed strategically, so you can easily create your own Sphinx plugins:
  
  
  
  
• Multi Processing
  In version 2.0.0, the search speed was improved because the usage of all processors available into your server. An index can use multiple processors to work faster for you, resulting into even faster results. Not that Sphinx needs it, but still, faster is always better. We tested the new search into a dual quad core server, with 8 processors. The search results were 600% faster when processed by 6 processors. The average search response was 0.026 seconds, measured for a 10 days period:
  
  
  
  
• Live Index Updates
  Compared with 1.2.x branch, the new version uses an entirely different approach. Data contained into search indexes is updated every 10 minutes, allowing to have accurate search results anytime and every time. The time variance is based on the number of new or modified threads or posts. In other words, the time to update all search indexes increases with the number of records to be updated.
  
  At Audio-Video Forums, it takes approximately 40 seconds (or less) to update 10,000 posts into 3.6GB of stored index data. That is the average number of posts (published and modified), every day. In other words, if I have a batch of 10,000 posts published 2-30 days ago and all edited in the last 5 min, it will take approximately 40 seconds to scan the entire index list and update the old content with the new one. Of course the indexing of regular new threads and posts are processed in a matter of seconds also. For example, if I decide to post 2,000 new fresh threads that were never indexed, it will take approximately 2-3 seconds to update the index data with the new information. Inserting new threads or posts into existing indexes is faster, compared with searching and replacing existing data into indexes. Still, the overall process is ultra fast, compared with a standard index rebuild. We are talking about indexing tasks that are processed in 40 seconds, not 40 minutes (as a regular index build would take).
  
  A direct benefit of Live Index Updates is the post content accuracy. Let's presume an user posts a new thread. 2 days later, a moderator reads it and deletes half of post contents. The search index related to that edited post will be updated within few minutes. Without the update, the post will be displayed into search results, even if it does not contain anymore the related keywords previously deleted by moderator.