Sitecore Solr Index instance

Question

I would like to have 2 different sitecore instance with different Solr instance on my developer PC.

What would be the best way to do it: 1. Create new instance of SOLR 2. Somehow change index name for specific sitecore instance.

based on solr article it seems like 1 way. For me it looks not really optimal. if 2 case it is other question goes on: how to specify custom SOLR index names for sitecore config.

Answer 1

No you don't need to have more than one solr instance to run multiple Sitecore instances, You only need separate Core for each instance.

1. Create a new core for the second Sitecore instance on the same Solr instance, you can call it "Sitecore_instance2" , then restart SOLR service.

2. In Sitecore.ContentSearch.Solr.Indexes.config, Sitecore.ContentSearch.Solr.Index.Analytics.config files, you will need to change the core name for each index to "Sitecore_instance2" like this:

   <param desc="core">Sitecore_instance2</param>

Answer 2

I have over 8 Sitecore projects on the go that are all using SOLR. Creating a new SOLR instance for each project would just be a pain and a waste of time and resources. I have a single SOLR instance setup and then set the core names via an include file.

You would want a config like this one, just add it to the include folder:

<configuration xmlns:patch="http://www.sitecore.net/xmlconfig/">
<Sitecore>
    <contentSearch>
        <configuration>
            <indexes hint="list:AddIndex">
                <index id="sitecore_master_index" type="Sitecore.ContentSearch.SolrProvider.SolrSearchIndex, Sitecore.ContentSearch.SolrProvider">
                    <param desc="core">"Your Core Name Here"</param>
                </index>
                <index id="sitecore_web_index" type="Sitecore.ContentSearch.SolrProvider.SolrSearchIndex, Sitecore.ContentSearch.SolrProvider">
                    <param desc="core">"Your Core Name Here"</param>
                </index>
                <index id="sitecore_core_index" type="Sitecore.ContentSearch.SolrProvider.SolrSearchIndex, Sitecore.ContentSearch.SolrProvider">
                    <param desc="core">"Your Core Name Here"</param>
                </index>
                <index id="sitecore_analytics_index" type="Sitecore.ContentSearch.SolrProvider.SolrSearchIndex, Sitecore.ContentSearch.SolrProvider">
                    <param desc="core">"Your Core Name Here"</param>
                </index>
                <index id="sitecore_testing_index" type="Sitecore.ContentSearch.SolrProvider.SolrSearchIndex, Sitecore.ContentSearch.SolrProvider">
                    <param desc="core">"Your Core Name Here"</param>
                </index>
                <index id="sitecore_suggested_test_index" type="Sitecore.ContentSearch.SolrProvider.SolrSearchIndex, Sitecore.ContentSearch.SolrProvider">
                    <param desc="core">"Your Core Name Here"</param>
                </index>
                <index id="sitecore_fxm_master_index" type="Sitecore.ContentSearch.SolrProvider.SolrSearchIndex, Sitecore.ContentSearch.SolrProvider">
                    <param desc="core">"Your Core Name Here"</param>
                </index>
                <index id="sitecore_fxm_web_index" type="Sitecore.ContentSearch.SolrProvider.SolrSearchIndex, Sitecore.ContentSearch.SolrProvider">
                    <param desc="core">"Your Core Name Here"</param>
                </index>
                <index id="sitecore_list_index" type="Sitecore.ContentSearch.SolrProvider.SolrSearchIndex, Sitecore.ContentSearch.SolrProvider">
                    <param desc="core">"Your Core Name Here"</param>
                </index>
                <index id="social_messages_master" type="Sitecore.ContentSearch.SolrProvider.SolrSearchIndex, Sitecore.ContentSearch.SolrProvider">
                    <param desc="core">"Your Core Name Here"</param>
                </index>
                <index id="social_messages_web" type="Sitecore.ContentSearch.SolrProvider.SolrSearchIndex, Sitecore.ContentSearch.SolrProvider">
                    <param desc="core">"Your Core Name Here"</param>
                </index>
                <index id="sitecore_marketing_asset_index_master" type="Sitecore.ContentSearch.SolrProvider.SolrSearchIndex, Sitecore.ContentSearch.SolrProvider">
                    <param desc="core">"Your Core Name Here"</param>
                </index>
                <index id="sitecore_marketing_asset_index_web" type="Sitecore.ContentSearch.SolrProvider.SolrSearchIndex, Sitecore.ContentSearch.SolrProvider">
                    <param desc="core">"Your Core Name Here"</param>
                </index>
            </indexes>
        </configuration>
    </contentSearch>
    <settings>
        <!--<setting name="ContentSearch.Solr.ServiceBaseAddress">
            <patch:attribute name="value">http://localhost:8983/solr</patch:attribute>
        </setting>-->
    </settings>
</sitecore>

Answer 3

Although you can run multiple cores under one instance, I still like the idea of completely separating the cores for different clients. I installed multiple instances and blogged about it here.