Press/Digital Develops Internet's First 'Super Spider'
Digital Press & Analysts News
Digital Equipment Corporation
Maynard, Massachusetts 01754-2571
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DIGITAL DEVELOPS INTERNET'S FIRST 'SUPER SPIDER'
...Next-Generation Technology Enables Most Comprehensive Index
of WWW Text at Unprecedented Speed...
...Millions of Web Users Expected to 'Kick the Tires'
in Trial Offer...
PALO ALTO, CA -- December 15, 1995 -- Digital Equipment Corporation
today introduced the Internet's first "super spider" software, as
part of the most advanced information search and indexing technology
available for the World Wide Web. Blazing fast, it conducts the
most comprehensive search of the entire Web text at speeds up to 100
times faster than spiders used in conventional information search
services.
Under development at Digital's Corporate Research Group here,
the technology promises to surpass the limitations of current
information services by delivering the most complete, precise, and
up-to-date information of the Web's entire text. The technology's
super spider and super indexer employ next-generation software and
advanced networking, powered by the highest-performing 64-bit Alpha
computers.
The advanced technology is set to undergo its toughest testing
starting today (Friday, December 15), as Digital makes a "beta"
version available to tens of millions of Web users worldwide.
Users can test the super spider's Web index and provide feedback
through Digital's Internet address at:
http://www.altavista.digital.com/
Thousands of Digital employees worldwide are testing the new
technology behind the corporation's Internet firewall.
Cyber Search
"Finding a 'cyber needle' in an ever-growing 'cyber haystack'
has long been a dream of Web users," said Samuel H. Fuller, vice
president, Corporate Research. "This technology is a major step in
that direction. It features the most complete and precise Web
index. In fact, it's the only one with the potential to keep up
with the phenomenal growth of the Web," he added.
Fuller said the super spider has been crawling the Web at up to
2.5 million pages per day, and already has found and indexed more
information than any other spider or crawling service. It is
enroute to finding every page and indexing every word of text on the
Web. "We believe users will find Web pages they have never seen
through any other indexing technology," he added.
Digital said the technology has implications for market
research because of its precise search capabilities. For example,
users for the first time can pinpoint the exact number of
"hot-links" or references to their home page from other Web sites.
What It Does
The super spider creates and dispatches a "brood of spiders"
that crawls the entire Web. Second-generation scalable software
simultaneously locates and indexes text as it finds Web pages.
A powerful search engine enables Web users to conduct precise
searches for specific information by looking for phrases, specifying
key words, using case-sensitive matches, and restricting searches to
titles or other parts of a document. Network connectivity is
provided through Digital's fiber optic and high-speed network
switching technologies. Ultra-high-speed search and indexing is
enabled by Digital's Alpha computers, the industry's highest-
performing 64-bit servers. This powerful combination of software,
networking, and hardware overcomes the limitations of conventional
spider/indexing technologies. Patents are pending.
Fuller said current Internet search and indexing technology is
much slower due to the constraints of 32-bit technology. "Users do
not receive all of the information available on the entire Web, and
frequently miss entire documents. Digital's second-generation
technology indexes every word of every document," he added.
"Businesses will find this powerful indexing and search
capability will assist them in instantaneously locating information
on markets, customers, and competitors," said Rose Ann Giordano,
vice president of Digital's Internet Business Group. "This new
capability complements Digital's portfolio of industrial-strength
Internet servers, security, and service offerings."
Digital Equipment Corporation is the world's leader in open
client/server solutions from personal computing to integrated
worldwide information systems. Digital's scalable Alpha platforms,
storage, networking, software and services, together with industry-
focused solutions from business partners, help organizations compete
and win in today's global marketplace. Specific information on
Digital's Alpha and Intel platforms, storage, networking, software,
and services is available on the Internet and can be accessed through
the Digital home page: http://www.digital.com
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Note to Editors: Digital and the Digital logo are trademarks of
Digital Equipment Corporation.
CORP/96/123
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