Uploading Db

[Ptityop]

Can anyone tell me where I cann find the procedure to upload a FmP

[Vaughan]

Ask your service provider!

[Ptityop]

Well that's very kind of you, but that's not really the kind of

[Ptityop]

Well that's not really what i expected from a Forum!

Neither do i understand why you waste your time writing such useless reply.

But as i give anyon a chance i did ask our provider and here is his answer :"Sorry i don't know FmPro, i need a bit more details about this software and how it works on the web...." Very surprising innit???

Firstly, providers are not supposed to know filemaker, and i certainly won't be able to talk technical with him. I believe there should be some documentation available...maybe someone a bit more helpfull could give me a bit more information on that?

Thanx

[John Caballero]

Hi Pityop,

In defense of Vaughan's suggestion, if all you're wanting to do is upload some FM files, your Service Provider should be able to tell you how to do that. But I suspect that what you're wanting to do is have your Service Provider host the files. That's a different sort of animal that just uploading files. If this is something your Service Provider has agreed to do, then it is incumbent upon them to learn what is needed in order for them to do that. It's not really your responsibility to tell them how to go about doing that. If you wanted to give them a nudge in the right direction, you could do a web search for FileMaker Hosting web sites and have your Service Provider get in touch with one of those companies to find out what the requirements are.

[Ptityop]

Ok...great..well that's more helpfull!! Thanx for that!!

[Mariano Peterson]

John and Vaughan are absolutely right. You're out of line having the odacity to criticize free advice on a subject you don't seem to know the first thing about. That's OK - we're all here to learn - but don't flame somebody just because you don't understand their advice.

1) Every service provider (ISP) operates differently and will have different procedures for uploading files (such as your database).

2) If ALL you want to do is upload your database to the server, then you can probably achieve through FTP. Most (but not all) ISP's provide you with an FTP account you can use to upload files to the web server. The specifics of the FTP account are 100% dependent on your ISP - they will provide you with a user name and password, and URL which points to the FTP service. Once you have this information, you'll need an FTP client (software) that allows you to connect to the FTP service using your authentication credentials. There are numerous FTP clients on the market, and of course, they all work differently. Perhaps the easiest way to connect is to use Internet Explorer. Just type the following in the address bar, where:

[*]<<username>> is the username provided by your ISP

[*]<<password>> is the password provided by your ISP

[*]<<URL>> is the URL to the FTP service provided by your ISP

ftp://<<username>>:<<password>>@<<URL>>

If your username, password, and URL are all correct, IE will show you a list of folders and files that are in the URL you specified. At this point, you can simply drag and drop your database files into the IE window and they will be uploaded to the server.

3) If on the other hand you want to start up your database on the server and make it available for guests to connect to it, well there is an entirely different story (and not what you asked). None the less, I'll help clarify this somewhat.

If you want to run your database on the web server, you'll need to install FileMaker Pro, Unlimited, or Developer on it. Since FileMaker Pro/Unlimited/Developer run in a "user context" and not a "system context", you'll need to leave the web server logged in with a user account. This will usually require the ISP to reserve the web server just for your private use. ISPs usually segment each server to host multiple domains. This means they typically generate revenue from say, 10 accounts per web server. The fact that you are sharing a web server with other people helps offset the cost of hosting for the ISP, thereby allowing them to charge [relatively] lower prices. If you require your ISP to reserve an entire server just for you, they will naturally increase the price to compensate for the lost revenue from the other 9 users that would normally have shared space on the same server. Further, many ISPs will refuse to install FileMaker on their web servers simply because it requires the machine to remain in a "logged in" state. This creates numerous maintenance headaches for them, adding to their overhead and reducing uptime. For this reason many ISPs may not find it attractive business and simply refuse to accomodate FileMaker.

There are, however, several ISPs which specialize in hosting FileMaker databases. These plans tend to be much more expensive than conventional web hosting, for the reasons outlined above. Expect to pay anywhere from $60-$200 per month, depending on the number of files you need hosted.

Again, uploading your database to these ISPs is a vendor specific task. More than likely they'll provide you an FTP site to which you can upload your files, and perhaps provide you with VNC, Timbuktu, or Terminal Services access to the desktop so that you can administer your server and the files running on it. Depending on how your ISP has configured their system, you may need to acquire certain software to interact with the server, such as Timbuktu, a VNC client, a Terminal Services client, etc. Or, they may have simply created a web page based "control panel" which allows you to administer the server from a series of web pages. It all depends on the ISP.

4) It is not the least bit surprising that an ISP doesn't know anything about hosting FileMaker. FileMaker is not a program designed to run on web servers. FileMaker doesn't confirm to the simplest standards for commercial web hosting, chiefly being it doesn't run as a service, but rather as an application. If you want your ISP to install non-web-conventional software on their web servers, you'd better be ready to talk very technical with them. They run server farms of identically configured machines and can't afford to have special configurations for each user.

Further, you are not clear about what you want to do with FileMaker Pro on the web server. You merely said you want to "upload a FmP

[stanley]

Ptitiyop:

Mariano & Vaughan are both right on. For an example of an ISP that can host FileMaker, look at:

www.machost.com

I've never used them, but they claim to do the job...

-Stanley

[Ptityop]

"If on the other hand you want to start up your database on the server and make it available for guests to connect to it, well there is an entirely different story (and not what you asked). None the less, I'll help clarify this somewhat."

That's exactly what I was talking about and i tyhank you for your very much appreciated help. Basically we are planning to have our customer databse on our web site so thet employees can issue out invoices and price quotes directly from any computer...

We are just planning to use basic functions of FmPro without having to code anything,we don't have the skills for that, and that's the reason why we use such software....

so i understand that we only need to install Filemaker pro on the web server ?

On the other hand, maybe can we can also dedicate one of our machine (with static ip) and use this one to give access to the database without having to use our isp, considering that only employees will have access to the database and they will never be more than 3/4 people connected to it at the same time...am i right?

Thanx all for your help!

[Mariano Peterson]

If I understand correctly, you want remote users to connect to your FileMaker database using their copies of FileMaker Pro (as opposed to creating web pages and then accessing them with a web browser like Internet Explorer).

There are a four ways (that I can think of) to do this. Note that none of them use an Internet Service Provider.

1) Put your FileMaker Server (or computer hosting the database files) on a static IP. Remove FileMaker users will be able to connect directly to the database as long as they are on the internet and aren't behind a firewall that is blocking the ports that FileMaker uses. I can't remember which ports FileMaker uses, but you can probably look that up or post a question asking about that on this forum. This method is by far the slowest method, and is in fact so slow you may find it unacceptable. On the upside, it is the cheapest method.

2) Load remote desktop software such as VNC, Timbuktu, or PC Anywhere onto a few computers in your office. Leave these computers running and logged in on your network, and give them static IP addresses. Your remote users will connect to the desktops on those computers. The remote users won't need FileMaker installed on their remote computers, but they will need VNC, Timbuktu, or PC Anywhere. The remote users will be able to open a window on their computer which shows the desktop of the computer they are connecting to in the office. Only one remote user can connect to one office computer at a time. If you want 3 people to work concurrently, you'll need 3 computers at the office reserved for them. The price of this method will vary depending on whether you have extra computers laying around which you can reserve for the remote users, or whether you need to buy extra computers. This method works well if your remote users normally work in the office, since their computers will become available to handle their connection if they are working remotely. This method is much faster and reliable than method #1, but can be more expensive because you'll have to acquire the connectivity software.

3) Deploy Terminal Services in your office. This is a Microsoft technology which allows a single server to broadcast multiple desktops to remote users. This method requires at least one dedicated computer to act as the Application Server, which would require installation of Windows 2000 Server (which includes 5 client access licenses) and FileMaker **from a VLA disk**. A VLA disk is a Volume License Agreement disk which uses a special install code from FileMaker that allows multiple instances of FileMaker to be opened on an Application Server. Your remote users would then load the Terminal Services client on their client, and could then login to the Application Server across the internet. Once logged in, their desktop would change to the desktop which the Application Server is broadcasting. Each user maintains their own separate desktop on the Application Server. This method is much faster than method #2, and is more scalable as you only need one server to host numerous remote connections, as opposed to method #2 which requires one computer for each remote connection. However, this method requires a little more research and effort to implement. The cost will likely be higher than method #2, as this method requires that you purchase a computer to act as an Application Server, and also a FileMaker VLA disk. Still, the performance is substantially improved over methods #1 and #2.

4) Deploy Citrix AND Terminal Services in your office. Citrix is a program that runs on top of Terminal Services. To use Citrix, you must first install Terminal Services. Citrix provides much better performance than Terminal Service, and provides support for many more client types (Macs, Unix, DOS, etc). Another nice feature that Citrix provides over Terminal Services is that it allows you to broadcast an application, as opposed to an entire desktop. This way when remote users connect their whole desktop won't be switched out for the TS desktop -- rather, a new window will open housing just the application they logged in to. This is much more seamless and transparent to the end users. While Citrix offers a few extra features and is much faster than Terminal Services alone, it is by far the most expensive as you need everything from method #3, and additionally have to purchase the Citrix server licenses.

So, there are your options. I'd probably start with method #1 and see how the performance works for you. Good luck!

[Ptityop]

You're a star Mariano!!! That's very kind of you, I think we'll follow your suggestion and start with option 1, but i think the second will be fine, I give what you wrote to our IT guy, If he comes and says he does not understand I fire him!!-))

Thanx a lot again!!

[Ptityop]

Thank you very much for your help!!!

[Mariano Peterson]

Glad I could help!