How complicated is it to host your own databases?

[Jarvis]

I currently spend about $60 per month to a company that hosts my FMP 14 databases on a shared server.

How complicated would this be to manage on my own?   I am not interested in hosting sites for anybody else, just those for my own company.

What kind of dedicated computer gear would I need to make this happen?  Would I need to have a dedicated IP address?

Can this be done by a rube like myself or would it be better to continue paying someone else for this work?

[Rick Whitelaw]

If you can dedicate a decent and powerful: machine simply use Filemaker server. You will need a static IP address to access the databases from outside your local network. This can be done for free using No-IP.com.

[Ocean West]

@jarvis

some things to consider -

• FileMaker 14 platform is was end of life 9/21/2018
• one OS update will render the software unusable or unstable
• Upgrade to 16+ license prevents hosting multi-tenancy ( only license holder)
• if you have your own server on premises invest in a UPS
• invest in storage for onsite and offsite of mission critical backups
• purchase SSL certificate and any Dynamic DNS service to maintain internal external via FQDN
• or if business cable get static IP
• be prepared to open ports on your router

there are several hosting providers out there

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https://foxtailtech.com

https://www.pointinspace.com

http://filemakerhostingservice.com/product/index.php

 

[OlgerDiekstra]

Generally, using a hosted server is cheaper than rolling your own. 

With a hosted service, you don't have to refresh your hardware every so often (lots of businesses refresh every 3-5 years to ensure reliability), you don't have to update and maintain the OS, (as indicated) provide for UPS, backups (and part of the backup process is testing restores), etc. If you have external staff accessing your database you'll want to ensure stable (and probably redundant) internet connection. If purchasing a Windows server you have to pay for licenses on top of FMS. 

A hosted service may not be suitable if internet drops out frequently, or latency tends to go up quickly. 

Depending on use, most low end server gear will do the job just fine. I have an octa-core (8 cores) Windows 2k8R2  server, with 24GB memory that's now 6+ plus years old (while still going strong, its a critical server and I have been pushing to get it replaced). I have up to 20 devices accessing it. It rarely ever goes over 8GB memory usage (my DB is 6GB), CPU rarely goes up.

With rolling your own, you need the skills to manage it. That includes setting it up, upgrading and troubleshooting it in case of problems. It could mean accepting a few days downtime. 

Another benefit of a hosted service is that you can access it from anywhere, so if you can't get into your building, or it burns down, you still have access to your data and staff could do so from home.

And if you expose your server to the internet, you'll need to pay attention to security. Both within FileMaker as on your router and network. Shodan.io scans every device on the internet, and it will eventually come to you. If you have ports open, it will scan them and determine whats behind them. Using non-standard ports helps to obfuscate things, but can only ever be a first line of defense. Once Shodan scanned your router, everyone can search their database for it. They generally don't go looking for you, they're looking for easy targets. And if you show up, they'll probe. 

Rolling your own is easy enough. Keeping it safe and secure is a totally different story.

 

Edited June 24, 2019 by OlgerDiekstra

[Jarvis]

Thank  you Olger.  Is all I needed to hear.  Is way above my paygrade.

[Wim Decorte]

On 6/23/2019 at 11:13 AM, Jarvis said:

What kind of dedicated computer gear would I need to make this happen?

 

The same question applies to both dedicated and hosted gear: you need to work with your current baseline (stats.log mostly) to find out if you are hitting any kind of performance bottlenecks.  Only with that in hand can you choose the proper hardware to run your solution on.

Changing the hardware specs up or down is easier in a virtualized environment, which most hosting environments are.