Things break, servers crash, software has bugs, water is wet, so to keep the sky blue and clear we need backups. While backing up a disk index in Sphinx is basically a matter of copying files around, properly backing up RT is a little bit more complicated. (But only a little bit.) Read on to find out how binlogs, periodic flushes, and two newly added 2.0.2-beta features (FLUSH RTINDEX and ATTACH INDEX) can all work together for backup/recovery.
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One of the application of distributed indexes in Sphinx is parallelizing queries across many CPU cores even when running on a single server. There’s a well known trick to have an agent line (or three) pointing to the very same master searchd instance. Only problem with that approach is, every query entails a bunch of one-off TCP connections, extra forks, and other redundant internal work. Which is okay when you’re serving a few heavy queries but might spin over 50% of your CPU in system time doing those works when you’re doing many quick ones.

Now that’s a problem, but starting with 1.10-beta, there is a solution, called dist_threads directive. So if you’re still doing that agent=localhost trick, and suffering from TCP stack pressure and/or seeing way too much system time in top(1) or vmstat(8), do read on, you are eligible. (As a collateral, if you’re still on anything pre-2.0.1, you should seriously consider upgrading, too.)
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When it rains, it pours… Do expect a full-blown news entry with the new features overview and other nitty gritty details a little while later (when we add more binary packages, and figure out how to mention both the book and the new release), but a new version of Sphinx, tagged 2.0.1-beta, is just out, you can grab it now. If you’re running any of the previous ones, I strongly recommend to check this one out. For the purpose of reporting bugs and getting 2.0.2-release in a month, if nothing else. Oh, and the book actually documents 2.0.1-beta too. How’s that for a combo?

Have you been waiting for an opportunity to join the Sphinx Team? Have you felt the call of the wild or better described as the opportunity to work in a distributed environment, on cutting edge open source search? Then this is your opportunity to be an integral component to the riddle, that is Sphinx Search.

The careers page is live and we are currently accepting applications for  Support Engineers, C++ Developers, Technical Writers, and Q&A/Build Engineers. We look forward to hearing from you!

As you have undoubtedly noticed we have a new website design.  We finally decided it was time to drop the 1996 look and move to the modern age, albeit very slowly and only slightly modern. As with anything new there will be quirks and potential issues that could affect your familiarity or even use. So please be patient and let us know if anything gets weird or breaks by filling out our contact us form.  In the subject line simply state  ’Sphinx Website Feedback’ and provide us with your comments.

FYI: We plan more changes from here, like finally implementing Sphinx for searches, unified signon for all different parts of the website, and a revamp of the powered-by and services page. Again feel free to reach out to us with suggestions, applause, or issues.