Distributed index searching in computing systems

A method for providing distributed index searching in a computer system accessible to members via a computer network, the computer system including content items hosted on content servers and a set of distributed indices of a subset of the content items hosted on a corresponding content server, the method comprising:

• receiving, at the database server and via the computer network, search terms included in a search query for content from a member;
• and
• in response to receiving the search terms, at the database server,
• determining a subset of the distributed indices to be searched in response to the search query based on the received search terms and one or more records of searching features on the database server, the searching features containing data representing content searching profiles of at least one of an organization or the individual members of the organization, wherein the database server does not contain a master index of the distributed indices hosted on the corresponding content servers;
• and
• providing, from the database server and via the computer network, the determined list of distributed indices to a subset of the content servers corresponding to the determined subset of the distributed indices;
• and searching the corresponding distributed indices on the subset of the content servers based on the search terms in the search query to generate a set of search results in response to the received search query;
• and
• transmitting the generated set of search results in response to the received search query, the search results identifying content items hosted on the corresponding content servers relevant to the search terms.

A computing device for providing distributed index searching in a computer system accessible to members via a computer network, the computer system including a set of content servers individually hosting corresponding content items and a distributed index of the content items, the computing device comprising:

• a processor;
• and
• a memory operatively coupled to the processor, the memory containing instructions executable by the processor to cause the processor to:
• in response to receiving a search query for content from a member via the computer network, determine, from a database server, a list of distributed indices based on the search terms and records of searching features related to the computer system, the records of searching features containing information of content searching profiles of an organization or the individual members of the organization, wherein the database server does not contain a master index of the distributed indices hosted on the corresponding content servers;
• transmit, via the computer network, search requests to a subset of the content servers corresponding to the distributed indices in the list, the search requests requesting the content servers to search corresponding distributed indices based on the search terms;
• and
• receive sets of search results from the subset of content servers, the search results identifying content items hosted on the corresponding content servers relevant to the search terms.