SharePoint 2013 – The New “Result Sources” for Search Results

n SharePoint 2013 the “Scopes” are replaced by a new thing called “Result Sources”. By replaced I mean you cannot Create or use the Search scopes anymore. No more displaying a custom search scope in a Drop-down next to search box. Only two system Search scopes All Sites and People will be available at search results page.
What happen to Search Scopes – They are depericated or rather are integrated in Federated Search to create advanced version of these Scopes.
What are Result Sources – Result Sources are actually the combination of Federated Search and Search Scopes. In SharePoint 2013 you can Create a new Result Source and specify the “Protocol” (to search Local SharePoint or Remote SharePoint farm etc..) and can specify the “Query Transformation”.

Pros –

• Result sources make it easier to search remote sources including other SharePoint farms.
• You can create complex Search queries to restrict results to a subset of content.
• There is a new query builder to help build a “Query Transformation. With Query builder you can now define any type of managed property inclusion or exclusion.
• Query builer also lets you add Custom Sorting for your results
• You can test the results for your Query from the query builder itself

Cons -

• You cannot add a Result Source in in a Drop-down next to search box.
• Users cannot quickly add Rules to create a Search scope