FM15 on Mac Mini

[milanello]

Hello,

Can I use Filemaker pro 15 (not the Server license) for hosting a small project that must be accessible at most 3 Ipad devices? If so, can I install FM on a Mac Mini?

Thanks.

[rwoods]

Hi There

You can indeed do that and it will host the iPad users just fine. Bear in mind that FM Pro is not optimised for sharing files (unlike FileMaker Server), and you will have to quit FM Pro on the Mac mini each time you want to backup the files. The performance for light use should be OK though.

Don't let Time Machine backup the files as they will not be valid backups.

[John May - Point In Space]

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- John

[Josh Ormond]

How are they going to be accessing the file? From inside or outside the office?

Installing FileMaker Pro on the mini will require it's own separate license. And make sure that you follow all the best practices. It can be very easy to cause corruption in the database if you don't protect those files from being touched by other processes. 

[milanello]

Both inside and outside the lan. I prefer a local machine, because I have slow internet connection. 

[Josh Ormond]

A hosting service may not be a bad idea, precisely for that reason. Their connection is not slow.

If you are going to be trying to get to the database from outside your LAN, hosting it on Pro is not a great idea. There are so many things that can happen that will cause issues with your database. Seriously consider how you host it. Cheap will often get you expensive problems later, especially if that data is valuable to your business.

[milanello]

I'll try hosting service later. Is it a better idea install Filemaker Server on a mac or a Windows Server? Can I use a Nas for the backup?

Thanks for the help.

[Josh Ormond]

If you only have a few users hitting it, running FMS on a mac mini should be ok. Or on a Windows Server is great too if you have it available.

You can have the backups go to a separate drive, yes. It's best if it is physically connected to the server. Internal is best. You don't want the backup to hang because it's copying the files to a network drive. Backup to a folder on the server, and then use another process to move the file to the network drive.

[Rick Whitelaw]

Or back up using FMS backup to a physically attached external drive and have Time Machine back up that drive. Never use TM to back up "live" files.

[Josh Ormond]

External drives can work. You need to be very careful with them. Two potential issues, include slow throughput to the external drive causing issues with FMS and long pauses and disconnection. Both of which can cause strange behavior with FMS.  The safest route, is to save to an internal drive, and then move it to an external drive or network drive.

[milanello]

Is it powerful enough the Mac Mini 2014, intel i5 (1,4 Ghz), in your opinion?

[Josh Ormond]

It's hard to say without knowing/seeing more about the files you will be running. It's on the low end of meeting the system requirements. It may work if it's literally only 3 users, and that machine does nothing else other than run FMS. You may just have to test it. If the database is doing a lot of hard processes, it could crush that machine. If the database is very efficient and designed well, it should be fine. Just a lot of variables to figuring that out.

[milanello]

I've talked to my boss and he said that we don't need remote clients anymore. He is probably going to buy the iMac 21.5" quad-core and use also as a workstation. 

Which hard drive is the best for Filemaker?

[Josh Ormond]

It's not a good idea to use the FMS as a workstation. FMS is doing a lot. And if something the user is doing causes the machine to bog down ( or worse crash ), you can potentially damage the files and have data loss. The FMS needs to be it's own separate box. With no one touching it or using it. 

[milanello]

Sorry, my fault. I was talking about Filemaker Pro ( not Server). I want to use p2p sharing on the 3 ipad. Is it possible with that iMac? Thank you very much.

[Wim Decorte]

It is possible but as was mentioned before; it is not a good idea to use the  host machine for anything else.  Using FM Pro as the host is not as robust as FMS and making that whole deployment even more fragile by using the machine as a workstation is just asking for trouble.

[ggt667]

On 4/10/2017 at 11:32 AM, rwoods said:

Hi There

You can indeed do that and it will host the iPad users just fine. Bear in mind that FM Pro is not optimised for sharing files (unlike FileMaker Server), and you will have to quit FM Pro on the Mac mini each time you want to backup the files. The performance for light use should be OK though.

Don't let Time Machine backup the files as they will not be valid backups.

You can design your solution for this make a designated folder in the Documents folder of the user running. Example: ~/Documents/designatedfolder

If you run TimeMachine, make sure you disable your designated folder for the FileMaker file(s) in question 

For backups do yourself a favour and do an export records of the type FileMaker to the designated folder named with a timestamp; Example ~/Documents/designatedfolder/designated-2017-04-15.fmp12

Never use the same machine for FileMaker Server and other tasks at the same time; only exception is to keep FMPA installed on the server in case of emergency, do not launch until Server is stopped. And only use for repairing the broken files from the server. Never used a repaired file; only export its data.

Edited April 15, 2017 by ggt667

[Josh Ormond]

Why would you use an export of records? FMS has scheduled backups, FMP can use the "Save a copy..." script step.