Google Inc. has announced the availability of the Google Mini, a search appliance that enables small-to-medium businesses to access and manage their information using Google search.

"We believe high-quality search makes business faster and more efficient, and that companies of any size can realize these benefits," said Dave Girouard, general manager of Google's enterprise business. "Whether it's an employee finding the information she needs to do a better job or a customer connecting with the right product or service, Google search can improve productivity, increase revenues and reduce costs."

The Google Mini is an integrated hardware/software search appliance that indexes all content within a company's intranet or public Web site to enable users to search content as easily as they can on Google.com.

"We were sold on the Google Mini after ten minutes. We bought it online with a credit card, installed it in a few hours, and it was live on our site within the week," said Scott Klein, Web publisher/director of Technology of The Nation, a weekly news magazine.

In addition to The Nation, DeAnza College, the law firm of Brown Rudnick, and others have purchased and deployed the Google Mini. The Google Mini searches up to 50,000 documents and comes with one year of support, software updates, and hardware replacement coverage. It can be purchased online, directly from the Google Store, for $4,995 with a credit card or purchase order.