FM Server Needed?

[snackcakes101]

Hey! We are ready to get users on board with the db's I've written for the office. I currently am on FM5 (MAC) but we will upgrade to either 5.5 or 6 when we purchase the packs for the other machines. There will be 3 heavy users on a total of 10 files. There will be 9 users who randomly "pop on" a read only screen that they will be directed to by their password.

Do we need FM Server to do this? Is it strictly a degradation issue, or are there other dangers (stablility, backups, etc.)?

Thanks so much!

[DownhillRacer]

3 concurrent users? What is the size of your db's? How many mutations?

Without knowing all details, I would suggest to wait with FM server and let the db's be hosted be one of the heavy users. Or install a dedicated workstation as a 'server' with FM desktop edition. If it does nothing else, an older machine would do just fine. Run this setup for a while to see if performance is OK and decide later whether FM server is needed.

One problem with hosting files on a non dedicated computer is availability. If another app running on this computer brings down the entire computer, the db's are not accessible either. And you probably have to recover them.

[Fitch]

The backup capabilities alone make server a worthwhile investment. There are some bundles of server + 5 or 10 seats from FileMaker, or you might want to look at the linux server bundle from www.nmci.com.

[snackcakes101]

Thanks for your reply..

Yes, there will be 3 concurrent users who will pretty much be on the system all day. The largest db is 1.5 MB. (There will be 2 main db's that are used; the others are simply relational references that info is being pulled from via lookups and portals)

I'm sorry, I don't know what mutations are, forgive my ignorance. I am an experimental self-taught FMP writer!

Do we need FM on a dedicated machine, then, or can it run on a general Mac server that everyone already hits throughout the day (it houses client files/documents, not a mail server)? Thanks again for your input.

[snackcakes101]

Sorry, Fitch - didn't see your reply until mine was already entered! My response was to the other post.

[snackcakes101]

I still maintain the question of dedicated server vs. current mac server with other client data... any thoughts? THANKS!

[DownhillRacer]

Thanks for your reply..

Yes, there will be 3 concurrent users who will pretty much be on the system all day. The largest db is 1.5 MB. (There will be 2 main db's that are used; the others are simply relational references that info is being pulled from via lookups and portals)

Doesn't sound like a big server load to me.

I'm sorry, I don't know what mutations are, forgive my ignorance. I am an experimental self-taught FMP writer!

Mutations are data changes, like adding a record or changing a field value in a record.

Do we need FM on a dedicated machine, then, or can it run on a general Mac server that everyone already hits throughout the day (it houses client files/documents, not a mail server)?

Although possible but I would not recommend it. If the server is busy serving files, Filemaker performance could go south. Your db's can be served by a 500Mhz iMac without problems. So I would use such a machine to act as a Filemaker server. Saves a couple of $$$.

[snackcakes101]

Great, I'll make it so! Thanks again for your help.

[Anatoli]

RE: I would suggest to wait with FM server and let the db's be hosted be one of the heavy users.

Definitely *NOT*.

Client is ok for serving, but on stand alone machine the same as proper FM server.

The reason is simple, as standalone it will not crash for months.

It will crash often, when someone is working in it and usually databases are corrupted.

But in this scenario get FM server.