Years ago, we started out using Solr as a Data Indexer and only later used Elasticsearch as a Datamart. More recently — as we have been scaling Germain to support our ever-growing client’s needs — we faced a number of challenges:

  • Scalability limitations with Solr.

  • Many advanced features we rely on are not, or only poorly, supported by Solr. We had to limit our capabilities to the lowest common denominator between the two products.

  • Had to maintain two separate versions of our indexer code for Solr and ES; this increased code complexity, maintenance and QA effort.

Now, all this is history. We no longer support Solr, and rely on ElasticSearch instead as a Datamart and Data Indexer.

Notes:

  • This switch to ES reduces the overall number of services needed by Germain.

  • System requirements remain the same; any CPU / RAM previously set aside for Solr can be used for ES instead.

  • For customers currently using a relational database (MySQL, Oracle, etc.) for their Datamart, they can continue to do so. For the next upgrade, we will switch out Solr for ES.