There is actually an existing tool called Sitewide Tags that takes care of this.
Essentially, it creates an extra hidden site on your network and mirrors content from each of your other sites on it. Then, when you search, you search against the hidden site and get links back to the original content location.
I’ve used it once before on a client site, and I’ve been told it’s similar to the search-all-sites functionality used on large networks like WordPress.com.
I also purchased an ebook some time ago (written by some highly competent WP pros) that walks you through configuring and using such a system.
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