I installed Netscape FastTrack Server 3.01 on a Windows NT 4 server with Option Pack 4, added the Illuminar code,then defined the master list of Illuminar users and groups and the access-control privileges for each. The Administration Console lets you set intervals for automated updating of package lists and tags, make search pages available to browser-based Illuminar users, and define reports, tags, and tag sets. If you deploy multiple Illuminar Servers, you must point them all at the same master list to avoid corrupting Illuminar's access-control infrastructure. If you store shared content on multiple Illuminar Servers, the initial server passes user search requests to the other linked remote servers. Each server's independent search results are passed back to the originating server, which returns the consolidated results to the user on a single browser page.
Administrators can create virtual sites to represent different areas of the enterprise.
For example, one could aggregate three servers with marketing content to let users click on one selection to search all marketing information. Users have a choice of simple or advanced searches, both of which produce a standard report in which each row represents a wrapper with its contents ranked by relevance. You can view the name of the submitter, data format, and title, click on links to detailed tag information, and download the content to a local drive. The product's licensing does not favor virtual collaboration between partners, subcontractors, and suppliers, and smaller companies should wait for major platform integration of these tools. Microsoft shops might find the product more attractive if the Illuminar Folder were available as an ActiveX control embedded in the browser, but Verano remains committed to a cross-browser, Java client solution.