Learn about the concepts related to vector databases, how they work and how to get the best out of lexical & AI search with Elastic’s vector database.

Understanding vector databases

Why is there so much attention on vector databases?

What are vector databases used for?

What is a vector database, and how does it work?

Elastic as a vector database

How to get optimal retrieval performance with vector search

Challenges with implementing vector search

Dense versus sparse vector retrieval

Learned sparse retrievers: Highly performant semantic search out of the box

Why choose Elastic as your vector database?

Ready to dive in?

A vector database is a term for a system capable of executing vector search. Vector search enables fast and accurate semantic search of unstructured data and provides accurate context from proprietary sources outside what LLMs know.

What is a vector database?

Vector databases are used for 1) Capturing the meaning of unstructured text and finding what the user means instead of matching text. 2) Searching unstructured data other than text, including images or audio. 3) Personalizing user experiences by modeling user characteristics or behaviors. 4) Creating generative experiences, where the system engages with the user in conversations and explains multi-step processes.

Exploring vector databases: lexical & AI search with Elastic

Exploring vector databases: how to get the best of lexical and AI-powered search with Elastic’s vector database

Explore the machine learning (ML) models supported in Elastic, the Eland library for loading models and how to apply transformers & NLP in Elastic.

Elastic supports the machine learning models you need

Eland lets you load ML models into Elastic

Which models Elastic support?

How to apply transformers and NLP in Elastic, with ease!

Check these resources for more details

Elastic supports a variety of transformer models, as well as the most popular supervised learning libraries: NLP and embedding models, supervised learning, and generative AI.

Which machine learning models does Elastic support?

Elastic machine learning: Accessing & using ML models with Elastic

Accessing machine learning models in Elastic

Author

Bernhard Suhm

Articles

Exploring vector databases: how to get the best of lexical and AI-powered search with Elastic’s vector database

Accessing machine learning models in Elastic