YaCy

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YaCy

Original author(s)
Developer(s)	YaCy community
Initial release	2003; 18 years ago (2003)[1]
Stable release	1.922 / 14 October 2019; 22 months ago (2019-10-14)
Repository	github.com/yacy/yacy_search_server
Written in	Java
Operating system	Cross-platform
Type	Overlay network, Search engine
License	GPL-2.0-or-later
Website	yacy.net/en/

YaCy (pronounced "ya see") is a free distributed search engine, built on principles of peer-to-peer (P2P) networks.^[2][3] Its core is a computer program written in Java distributed on several hundred computers, as of September 2006, so-called YaCy-peers. Each YaCy-peer independently crawls through the Internet, analyzes and indexes found web pages, and stores indexing results in a common database (so called index) which is shared with other YaCy-peers using principles of P2P networks. It is a search engine that everyone can use to build a search portal for their intranet and to help search the public internet clearly.

Compared to semi-distributed search engines, the YaCy-network has a decentralized architecture. All YaCy-peers are equal and no central server exists. It can be run either in a crawling mode or as a local proxy server, indexing web pages visited by the person running YaCy on their computer. (Several mechanisms are provided to protect the user's privacy). Access to the search functions is made by a locally running web server which provides a search box to enter search terms, and returns search results in a similar format to other popular search engines.

YaCy was created in 2003 by Michael Christen.^[4]

System components[]

YaCy search engine is based on four elements:^[5]

Crawler

A search robot that traverses between web pages, analyzing their content.^[6]

Indexer

Creates a reverse word index (RWI) i.e. each word from the RWI has its list of relevant URLs and ranking information. Words are saved in form of word hashes.^[7]

Search and administration interface

Made as a web interface provided by a local HTTP servlet with servlet engine.^[8]

Data storage

Used to store the reverse word index database utilizing a distributed hash table.

Homepage of YaCy

Search-engine technology[]

YaCy network

• YaCy is a complete search appliance with user interface, index, administration and monitoring.
• YaCy harvests web pages with a web crawler. Documents are then parsed, indexed and the search index is stored locally. If your peer is part of a peer network, then your local search index is also merged into the shared index for that network.
• A search is started then the local index contributes together with a global search index from peers in the YaCy search network.
• The YaCy Grid is a second-generation implementation of the YaCy peer-to-peer search. A YaCy Grid installation consists of micro-services that communicate using the MCP.
• The YaCy Parser is a microservice that can be deployed using Docker. When the Parser Component is started, it searches for a MCP and connects to it. By default the local host is searched for a MCP but you can configure one yourself.

YaCy platform architecture[]

Web search showing results of the different components YaCy uses

YaCy uses a combination of techniques for the networking, administration, and maintenance of indexing the search engine including blacklisting, moderation, and communication with the community. Here is how YaCy performs these operations:

• Community components
  1. Web forum^[9]
  2. Statistics
  3. XML API
• Maintenance
  1. Web Server
  2. Indexing
  3. Crawler with Balancer
  4. Peer-to-Peer Server Communication
• Content organization
  1. Blacklisting and Filtering
  2. Search interface
  3. Bookmarks
  4. Monitoring search results

Distribution[]

YaCy is available ini packages for Linux, Windows, Macintosh and also as Docker Image. YaCy can also be installed on any other operation system either by manually compiling it, or using a tarball.^[10] YaCy requires Java 8, OpenJDK 8 is recommended.

The Debian package can be installed from a repository available at the subdomain of the project's website.^[11][12][13] The package is not maintained in the official Debian package repository yet.^{[14] [15] [16]}

See also[]

• Dooble – an open-source web browser with an integrated YaCy Search Engine Tool Widget

References[]

Wikimedia Commons has media related to YaCy.

Further reading[]

YaCy at LinuxReviews

External links[]

• Official website