Elastic Search vs Microsoft FAST comparison

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2,264 views|729 comparisons
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418 views|300 comparisons
Featured Review
Quotes From Members
We asked business professionals to review the solutions they use.
Here are some excerpts of what they said:
Pros
"It is stable.""I have found the sort capability of Elastic very useful for allowing us to find the information we need very quickly.""Gives us a more user-friendly, centralized solution (for those who just needed a quick glance, without being masters of sed and awk) as well as the ability to implement various mechanisms for machine-learning from our logs, and sending alerts for anomalies.""The most valuable feature of the solution is its utility and usefulness.""The product is scalable with good performance.""I value the feature that allows me to share the dashboards to different people with different levels of access.""The products comes with REST APIs.""The initial setup is very easy for small environments."

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"Microsoft FAST is quite robust. Our clients are quite happy with it."

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Cons
"There is another solution I'm testing which has a 500 record limit when you do a search on Elastic Enterprise Search. That's the only area in which I'm not sure whether it's a limitation on our end in terms of knowledge or a technical limitation from Elastic Enterprise Search. There is another solution we are looking at that rides on Elastic Enterprise Search. And the limit is for any sort of records that you're doing or data analysis you're trying to do, you can only extract 500 records at a time. I know the open-source nature has a lot of limitations, Otherwise, Elastic Enterprise Search is a fantastic solution and I'd recommend it to anyone.""Its licensing needs to be improved. They don't offer a perpetual license. They want to know how many nodes you will be using, and they ask for an annual subscription. Otherwise, they don't give you permission to use it. Our customers are generally military or police departments or customers without connection to the internet. Therefore, this model is not suitable for us. This subscription-based model is not the best for OEM vendors. Another annoying thing about Elasticsearch is its roadmap. We are developing something, and then they say, "Okay. We have removed that feature in this release," and when we are adapting to that release, they say, "Okay. We have removed that one as well." We don't know what they will remove in the next version. They are not looking for backward compatibility from the customers' perspective. They just remove a feature and say, "Okay. We've removed this one." In terms of new features, it should have an ODBC driver so that you can search and integrate this product with existing BI tools and reporting tools. Currently, you need to go for third parties, such as CData, in order to achieve this. ODBC driver is the most important feature required. Its Community Edition does not have security features. For example, you cannot authenticate with a username and password. It should have security features. They might have put it in the latest release.""We have an issue with the volume of data that we can handle.""It should be easier to use. It has been getting better because many functions are pre-defined, but it still needs improvement.""Enterprise scaling of what have been essentially separate, free open source software (FOSS) products has been a challenge, but the folks at Elastic have published new add-ons (X-Pack and ECE) to help large companies grow ELK to required scales.""Both the graph feature and the reporting feature are a little bit lacking. The alerting also needs to be improved.""The GUI is the part of the program which has the most room for improvement.""There are some features lacking in ELK Elasticsearch."

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"If there is any change in a system or a configuration or an update, we might face some issues."

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Pricing and Cost Advice
  • "ELK has been considered as an alternative to Splunk to reduce licensing costs."
  • "An X-Pack license is more affordable than Splunk."
  • "​The pricing and license model are clear: node-based model."
  • "This is a free, open source software (FOSS) tool, which means no cost on the front-end. There are no free lunches in this world though. Technical skill to implement and support are costly on the back-end with ELK, whether you train/hire internally or go for premium services from Elastic."
  • "We are using the free version and intend to upgrade."
  • "It can be expensive."
  • "This product is open-source and can be used free of charge."
  • "We are using the open-sourced version."
  • More Elastic Search Pricing and Cost Advice →

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    Questions from the Community
    Top Answer:Data indexing of historical data is the most beneficial feature of the product.
    Top Answer:I use the community version. The premium license is expensive. I rate the tool’s pricing an eight out of ten.
    Top Answer:The solution must provide AI integrations. I could direct my data flow to my AI tools if I use Elastic for IoT data.
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    Ranking
    1st
    out of 25 in Indexing and Search
    Views
    2,264
    Comparisons
    729
    Reviews
    27
    Average Words per Review
    512
    Rating
    8.3
    4th
    out of 25 in Indexing and Search
    Views
    418
    Comparisons
    300
    Reviews
    0
    Average Words per Review
    0
    Rating
    N/A
    Comparisons
    Also Known As
    Elastic Enterprise Search, Swiftype, Elastic Cloud
    MS FAST
    Learn More
    Overview

    Elasticsearch is a prominent open-source search and analytics engine known for its scalability, reliability, and straightforward management. It's a favored choice among enterprises for real-time data search, analysis, and visualization. Open-source Elasticsearch is free, offering a comprehensive feature set and scalability. It allows full control over deployments but requires managing and maintaining the infrastructure. On the other hand, Elastic Cloud provides a managed service with features like automated provisioning, high availability, security, and global reach.

    Elasticsearch excels in handling time-sensitive data and complex search requirements across large datasets. Its scalability allows it to handle growing data volumes efficiently, maintaining high performance and fast response times. Integrated with Kibana, Elasticsearch enables powerful data visualization, providing real-time insights crucial for data-driven decision-making.

    Elastic Cloud reduces operational overhead and improves scalability and performance, though it comes with associated costs. It is available on your preferred cloud provider — AWS, Azure, or Google Cloud. Customers who want to manage the software themselves, whether on public, private, or hybrid cloud, can download the Elastic Stack.

    At its core, Elasticsearch is renowned for its full-text search capabilities, capable of performing complex queries and supporting features like fuzzy matching and auto-complete.

    Peer reviews from various professionals highlight its strengths and weaknesses. Pros include its detection and correlation features, flexibility, cloud-readiness, extensibility, and efficient search capabilities. However, users have noted challenges like steep learning curves, data analysis limitations, and integration complexities. The platform is generally viewed as stable and scalable, with varying degrees of satisfaction regarding its usability and feature set.

    In summary, Elasticsearch stands out for its high-speed search, scalability, and versatile analytics, making it a go-to solution for organizations managing large datasets. Its adaptability to different enterprise needs, robust community support, and continuous development keep it at the forefront of enterprise search and analytics solutions. However, potential users should be aware of its learning curve and the need for skilled personnel for optimization.

    Microsoft FAST Search Server 2010 for SharePoint combines the power of FAST with the simplicity of SharePoint. FAST Search Server 2010 for SharePoint delivers an exceptional intranet and people search experience and a platform for building custom search-driven applications.
    Sample Customers
    T-Mobile, Adobe, Booking.com, BMW, Telegraph Media Group, Cisco, Karbon, Deezer, NORBr, Labelbox, Fingerprint, Relativity, NHS Hospital, Met Office, Proximus, Go1, Mentat, Bluestone Analytics, Humanz, Hutch, Auchan, Sitecore, Linklaters, Socren, Infotrack, Pfizer, Engadget, Airbus, Grab, Vimeo, Ticketmaster, Asana, Twilio, Blizzard, Comcast, RWE and many others.
    Moffitt Cancer Center, Hitachi Solutions, Manupatra Information Solutions, Unique World, _KODA AUTO a.s., MindTree Ltd, Mississippi Department of Transportation
    Top Industries
    REVIEWERS
    Financial Services Firm33%
    Computer Software Company27%
    Manufacturing Company10%
    Insurance Company7%
    VISITORS READING REVIEWS
    Computer Software Company18%
    Financial Services Firm15%
    Government8%
    Manufacturing Company7%
    VISITORS READING REVIEWS
    Computer Software Company24%
    Manufacturing Company11%
    Energy/Utilities Company9%
    Financial Services Firm9%
    Company Size
    REVIEWERS
    Small Business41%
    Midsize Enterprise11%
    Large Enterprise48%
    VISITORS READING REVIEWS
    Small Business23%
    Midsize Enterprise13%
    Large Enterprise63%
    VISITORS READING REVIEWS
    Small Business18%
    Midsize Enterprise18%
    Large Enterprise65%
    Buyer's Guide
    Elastic Search vs. IBM Watson Discovery
    March 2024
    Find out what your peers are saying about Elastic Search vs. IBM Watson Discovery and other solutions. Updated: March 2024.
    765,234 professionals have used our research since 2012.

    Elastic Search is ranked 1st in Indexing and Search with 59 reviews while Microsoft FAST is ranked 4th in Indexing and Search. Elastic Search is rated 8.2, while Microsoft FAST is rated 9.0. The top reviewer of Elastic Search writes "Played a crucial role in enhancing our cybersecurity efforts ". On the other hand, the top reviewer of Microsoft FAST writes "Robust solution with good value". Elastic Search is most compared with Milvus, Faiss, Azure Search, Amazon Kendra and Pinecone, whereas Microsoft FAST is most compared with Lookeen, IBM Watson Discovery, Lucene, Google Search Appliance and Coveo.

    See our list of best Indexing and Search vendors.

    We monitor all Indexing and Search reviews to prevent fraudulent reviews and keep review quality high. We do not post reviews by company employees or direct competitors. We validate each review for authenticity via cross-reference with LinkedIn, and personal follow-up with the reviewer when necessary.