What is Azure Search?

It is a cloud search-as-a-service solution that delegates server and infrastructure management to Microsoft, leaving us with a ready-to-use service that we can populate with our data and then use to add search to our web or mobile application. Azure search allows us to easily add a robust search experience to our applications using a simple REST API or .NET SDK without managing search infrastructure or becoming an expert in search.

Azure Search is a cloud-based search-as-a-service solution offered by Microsoft Azure. Azure Search enables developers to integrate powerful and sophisticated search capabilities into their applications without having to manage the underlying infrastructure.

Key features of Azure Search include:

  1. Indexing and Searching: Azure Search allows you to create indexes on your data, making it searchable. It supports full-text search, filtering, and faceted navigation.
  2. Scalability: Azure Search is designed to scale horizontally, allowing you to handle large amounts of data and search queries. You can adjust the resources allocated to your search service based on your application’s needs.
  3. Integration: It can be easily integrated with other Azure services and supports a variety of data sources, including Azure SQL Database, Azure Cosmos DB, and more.
  4. APIs: Azure Search provides REST APIs for programmatic access, making it easy to integrate search capabilities into your applications regardless of the programming language.
  5. Customization: You can customize the search experience by defining scoring profiles, synonyms, and custom analyzers to meet specific requirements.
  6. Security: Azure Search offers security features to control access to your search service and data, including Azure Active Directory integration.