Setup Web Server

[RobR]

Hi all -- I'm thinking about yanking my website from my current host and hosting it myself in-house. My guess is I need FMP 6 Unlimited because my site is all CDML and incompatible with FMP 7. I would then get a T1 or SDSL connection with a static IP (currently using dynamic IP ADSL) and serving the thing on either an old G4 Mac or perhaps buy an XServe Mac.

Am I missing anything important? Anything else I should think about? Harder than it seems?

[Jeff Spall]

Hi, If you are going to have a static address, then what you're suggesting is really easy to do.

Unless you are going to have *serious* traffic a G4 will be fine.

I'd recommend running it with Apache as the webserver and the WebServer Connector linking to FMPro as it is both faster and a little more secure than just FMPro doing the web serving. You'd then run FMPro on port :591 as it's on the same computer as the webserver but, as the outside world wouldn't need to access that port, you could close it on your firewall to stop hack attempts.

This needs a bit more setting up unless you start out with a copy of OSX server as you'll have to install Apache, but it's still a simple job.

regards, jeff

[RobR]

Jeff -- Thanks for the advice. I designed the site with FMP 6 using Web Companion and hope to use the Web Security Database. Do I need to purchase Unlimited in order to deploy this site myself, or can I get away with using FMP 6? Best, RR

[Steve T.]

I believe that according to FM, Inc., you must purchase FM-U to serve on the web publicly whether or not you can get FM client to satisfy your web server's technical needs. If you serve w/FM only, client has the built-in IP restriction (10 ip's per 12 hour cycle or somesuch). Unlimited has no restriction but they are otherwise pretty much the same. Although client can be used with other web technologies to get around the IP restriction, I think this is against FM, Inc. 's agreement/licensing.

Another benefit to Jeff's suggestion of serving w/Apache is that you can serve all your static pages without invovling FM. FM Unlimited stability has been a decisively questionable topic (oxymoron?) where some folks have no problems while others go down multiple times per day. Serving static pages with Apache lessens load on FM and should FM crash or stop serving, your site is still somewhat functional and not an internet black hole.

--ST

[RobR]

A propos of that, I was told that the FMP Unlimited CD is the same as the single-user FMP CD, and that only the serial number is different. True?

[kfutter]

I'm not sure about the CD itself, but the documentation (physical and electronic) is identical between the two versions, with only the presence of the WSC CD in the Unlimited box making any attempt at differentiating them.

Cheers,

Kevin Futter

[Jeff Spall]

Hi, FMPro in versions 5 or 6 is *exactly* the same, the only difference is the serial number.

take any install cd and try the two serial numbers and you can swop unlimited/client around.

When you use the WSC on Apache, all the calls are seen coming from the same computer (I found this out by trying to do some stuff that needed [FMP-ClientIp]) but, of course, only the most unscrupulous would use a copy of the client instead of Unlimited :-)

regards, jeff