FAST Search - What is it and why is it mentioned with Sharepoint?

Question

I've heard about FAST Search recently and trying to make sense of it. Whenever I read about it , Sharepoint is mentioned.

Is this a separate product? How is it related to Sharepoint?

I am interested in learning more about it. Where can I find learning resources for it outside of Sharepoint context?

Thanks

Answer 1

SharePoint's enterprise search offering was non-existent, and there was this really nice product called FAST ESP that Microsoft liked the look of, so they bought the company. When SharePoint 2010 came out they made the connection a little easier to configure, and gave it a SharePoint admin UI.

Answer 2

Microsoft Sharepoint 2010 has the Search feature for intranet and people search. This was enabled by integrating MS Sharepoint and MS enterprise FAST. Microsoft FAST is an enterprise Search product which can be used as a stand alone search product for any website. There is no online documentation source for MS Enterprise Search. It can be compared to Endeca, another enterprise Search product.