I'm planning to build a FileMaker database. As always, I have some minnor questions about what hardware & software is better to use in this specific case. The project configuration is:

The Db has to be searchable (and nothing else) through the internet by a limited number of people at the same time (not more than 40).

Every user on the internet will be using it's own login and password to make searchs.

The DB will be less than 110000 registers.

The DB will be populated through 2 Macs in the same lan as the server.

The server will be administrate remotely from another location.

In terms of software I thought of:

For the two Macs --> Two licenses of FileMakerPro.

For the server ---> FMServer and the FMUnlimited (990$ + 990$ ex-pen-sive !!)

In terms of hardware I thought of:

Apple Xserve 1.33Ghz single processor 512 RAM

Now the question is. Do you think this is the right configuration? or should I add/remove something. Maybe de FmServer isn't necessary, is it?

Thanks in advance to anyone giving attention to this thread.

I think that FM Server may not be neccessary.

I would not use XServe for this. Simply because it is an overkill. Try the basic G5 with plenty of RAM.

You do not need Mac OS X Server software to run FM. In fact, you are better off without the OS X Server software if all you are doing is serving FM.

All the best.

Garry

IMHO the ideal setup is two boxes, one with FMS and the other FMPU. The files are hosted by the FMS box which can provide hot backups, which is its prime advantage. It's also fast. Neither computer needs to be a screamer -- get some late model single processor G4s with good fast hard disks.

I really appreciate your promptly answers guys!

I chose the Xserve for the known reliability of it's components. As the machine will have to be 24/7 online I was afraid a regular mac wouldn't be as much reliable. In PCs world choosing a server would be the only option and I thought in Mac world this would be the same. Am I wrong?

Also, I thought of OSX server because of the need to administer the box remotely and I'm going to be really far from the box. I think that (I don't really know if this is true...) in OSX client this is not so easy. Also I was thinking of backuping all the data with a RAID1

Thanks

I have several 24/7 FMPro/web solutions running off of the older iMacs without any problems. Here's what we use to reduce down-time:

* Kick-off to reboot automatically if the system crashes

* Appropriate alias to files (like a db opener on the FMU machines and the FMS on the FMS machine) in the start up items folder

* Timbuktu for remote administration

* Backups are handled by FMS and backup to both a local FW drive and across the network using Dave (we're not on OS X yet).

While you could host the database for the web and for the lan using just FMU, FMS allows for quick/painless automated back-ups without taking the databases offline. Otherwise, backing up the dbs requires some ugly workarounds.

If you do decide to use both FMS and FMU, follow Vaughan's advice and put them on separate computers.

Good luck,

Yvonne