I'm building a competitive search engine

Thanks for you curiosity! I'm trying to create a search engine to compete against Yahoo and Google. Sounds crazy for a 17yr old to be doing right? Anyways, I've been searching for info on the best search engine software available. I need something that can handle a lot of registered sites. A whole lot! I hope someone can help me with that, price doesn't matter. Also what is the best server to use if I want to turn it into a high traffic portal? Another thing, is there anything else that I should look for or need?

To compete with yahoo and google, you'll need a few million bucks worth of servers and some pretty hardcore programmers.

My advice is get started on a smaller scale, and then grow into something larger over the course of years, not days.

When considering servers, plan for growth. Start off with a single dedicated server, but set it up in such a way that it can be easily split up into load-balanced components later on. Definitely talk to SimpleNet about this, they're pros.

As far as a database goes, you can't beat mySQL. It outperforms oracle almost 2:1 and MicrosoftSQL almost 3:1. The price is right, too (free)

on the search engine software, I'm obviously biased, but look at our Hyperseek package. It's designed to work on both small sites, and grow into a monster. We have clients running Hyperseek in a load balanced setup with multiple database backends, and 15+ webservers. It's designed with enterprise growth in mind, but not priced like it.

Good luck. It's good to dream big, but definitely think in terms of hitting the ground softly, and building momentum slowly and steadily. The principle reason for the recent .com crash? Greed and arrogance. Don't buy into the hype or fall into that trap. Do this right, and you'll be just fine.

Another reason for starting with a smaller, perhaps specialized engine/directory: use it as a learning experience and test site.

Running and promoting a SE is a lot of work - a lot more than most people think. There is a learning curve as to what searchers prefer, webmasters prefer, you prefer etc.

It can help to have made a few dry runs.

You don't have to build one, just get one from

prozilla or dotcombuilder

You can also get ready to use auction sites but god knows how you will get it off the ground!

jcokos,
Just out of curiosity, where did you get your information that mySQL outperforms Oracle 2:1 and Microsoft SQL almost 3:1.?

On the same token, what would you suggest for a directory, small scale, potential to be huge? Mysql seems to be the answer of choice as well. Or is there an exceptional program that manages directories? Am I making sense, it's 2 a.m. here.