Number of Connections

[PTKen]

Hi! I'm new to this forum, but from what I've read so far, you look like a great group.

I'm designing a job tracking/workflow solution using FM Pro and web companion to be used on an intranet. The maximum number of IP connections is 10, but ideally I'd like about 15. Unfortunately, as I'm sure you all know, I can't just buy additional seats.

In the on-line help, it states that the maximum number of connections is 10, but under certain conditions, you can have up to 25 connections with a single shared file with that number decreasing as the number of shared files increases. What it doesn't tell me is "What are the conditions!!!"???

Does anyone know how I would achieve 25 connections using FM Pro? Neither the server or unlimited versions are options for this project (and would be total overkill and over-budget for this project).

Please note: I am NOT asking for any illegal ways to circumvent the 10 connection limitation. I am simply trying to find out how I can achieve 25 connections within the license agreement as stated in the on-line help. I'll live with 10 if I have to...

Thanks in advance for you help.

Ken

[Steve T.]

Hmm... I wonder what FMP considers an IP address. If you split a single IP address amongst a group of users using a router, I wonder if it would count the internal reference IP's as IP's to be counted in the magic "10".

I have not heard of the 25 under conditions thing, but I do know that FileMaker Pro 4.x did not have that restriction. We used to use FMP 4 to publish out to the Internet. Aaahh, those were the days!

[BobWeaver]

I think you're confusing the maximum of 10 connections that you can have via web companion (without upgrading to FM unlimited) with the maximum number of connections over a direct network sharing arrangement where each user is running a copy of FM.

Access via the web is restricted to 10 different users (IP addresses) per day period, unless you buy FM unlimited.

If you are sharing over a local network with FM running on each machine and one of the machines hosting the files with a regular copy of Filemaker, there is a tradeoff between users and files. The more users you have at one time, the fewer files that can be shared. It's based on the number of sockets available which is 254. Sockets required = number of files X number of users X 2. So, you can figure it out from there.

[Steve T.]

* tink! * point to BobWeaver (thanx)

So, Ken... you can have your 10 shared among all in your group or you can assign a couple static IP's to a critical few and create an IP pool for the rest.

About that 10/day limitation, though... has anyone ever tried to find where the info is stored? Maybe it's in a preference file that can be zapped every hour or so.

[Anatoli]

RE: Access via the web is restricted to 10 different users (IP addresses) per day period, unless you buy FM unlimited.

It is per 12 hour period

[PTKen]

Thanks for the explanations. Each workstation already has it's own unique IP and that will not change. I guess I'm just stuck! At least I have an idea what they meant by up to 25 connections now. I'm sure we won't be purchasing more copies of FMP, so Web Companion for our LAN wins...

Thanks for the replies.

Ken