Our company currently has a high number of FMP 5.0 DB's with no planned upgrade to 7. That said, we are running the 5.0 server software and need to purchase another copy for installation on a desktop device that will host the files as opposed to our server that hosts the other files (long story).

Is the Server 7.0 software compatable with FMP 5.0 DB's or must we purchase another copy of server 5.0?

Since we are looking to install the server software on a Desktop Device running Windows 2000 Pro/XP, I see the documentation states there is a 10 user limit. Is this limit valid or can we have 40 users hosting to the desktop device?

Is the upgrade from FMP 5.0 to FMP 7.0 DBs as seamless as 4.0 to 5.0 or would it require additional work like 3.0 to 4.0?

Any, and all, information is greatly appreciated. Thanks

Is the Server 7.0 software compatable with FMP 5.0 DB's or must we purchase another copy of server 5.0?

As I understand it, Server 7 only works with v.7 databases. Whatever the case, you can get a copy of FileMaker Server 5 on eBay (or whatever) for a lot less than a copy of v.7, anyway.

I see the documentation states there is a 10 user limit. Is this limit valid or can we have 40 users hosting to the desktop device?

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Thank you for the responses.

To clarify the 10 user issue....we would like to place the DBs on a Desktop device with the Server software installed. In essense, the Desktop would act as our "server", but is truly not a server in our environment. The Desktop runs the Windows 2000 Pro O/S and I read in the FM Server documentation that there is a 10 user limit under Windows 2000. Is this true? We were going to test for validation, but we only have one license and the software only allows one copy (license) to work on the same network.

The 10 user limit is the legal limitation in the license agreement for Microsoft Windows. It is defined as 'device' connections to the machine. Technically, FM server will allow as many as defined in the server setup up to the maximum, but will violate your Microsoft license agreement. That's why FMI recommends running v5.5 or earlier on Windows Server OS - it's a legal thing.

Is FMP Server 5.5 functional with FMP 5.0 DBs?

Yes.

5, 5.5 & 6 DBs.

Can we get around the Microsoft legal issue if we have the FMP application on a desktop device without FMP server software and have the users host in?

The peer-to-peer network limit for Microsoft NT/2000 Pro/XP Pro is 10. Period.