filemaker on the new apple

[HyPeR]

Hi all

i have a litte question for ya here on work we are getting that new apple mini (1 Gig ram soon and were going to run a file maker server 6 on it. and it wil only have 3 or 4 machienes tallin to the filemaker server . But is it nessery to have another mac or pc to share the internet connection and dhcp server or will that one mac mini be enough to take the load

[stanley]

Hyper:

The Mac mini might not be the right machine for FileMaker Server. The reason is its hard drive, which is a 4200 rpm laptop drive. FileMaker Server is VERY drive-intensive. Considering you're only serving 3 or 4 machines, you might get away with it. As far as sharing the internet connection, I'm not sure I understand what you mean. The recommended setup for FMS 5 is that the Server box be used ONLY for FileMaker Server.

-Stanley

[CobaltSky]

I'm inclined to agree with Stanley. We've just installed a Mac Mini here, but not as a server.

The issue in relation to the drive is not just access times but also reliability under heavy use. You want a server to have drives that have a low access time and a high mean time between failures, and for that you really need SCSI or maybe Serial ATA.

Even with relatively few users, data loss can still a major headache if there is a steady flow of data entry going on. If the databases in question are almost solely reference data (little or no data collection) and if you can set up regular external backups then it might be worth considering. But otherwise it would be a potentially high risk strategy. :

[iNik]

I would really recommend finding yourself a used older Mac and throwing a couple HDs in it and striping them as a RAID-0 array for top performance. Should cost about the same as your plan but will run MUCH faster.

Still no redundancy or anything, so backups are key.

I've set up similar setups for clients before, and they were quite happy with the results. Faster drives = Faster Filemaker = Happy users. Even with just a couple users, the results are dramatic.

[vjl]

Do you think a Mac mini with a couple of Firewire external drives would perform as fast as a SATA or SCSI solution? We're going to put together a FMP 7 server soon and I'd like it to be on a Mac [we currently run FMP server 5.5 under win2k]. The Mac mini's size and relative power make it an attractive option, though I know the laptop HD is not up to speed [heh], but it would only be used for rsync backup jobs - the primary FMP files would live on the FW drives. We currently support 20 concurrent users, and no web users.

Thanks for any info you can provide!

/vjl/

[xochi]

FYI, due to better RAM caching in FM7 Server, hard disk speed is much less important for overall performance than it was ini FM6.

I think a Mac Mini with lots of RAM, and a good backup strategy (i.e. routine back ups to separate external drive at a minimum) would be fine as a server for moderate use at a very low cost.

I'm currently running a FM6 server with this configuration:

Mac Mini (base 1.4GHz model with 256 MB Ram)

External 150 gig firewire drive (server is booted from this drive and database files are on this drive)

Daily backups are stored on both external and internal drives, as well as to CD-R which are mailed offsite

Mac Mini + Hard Drive are plugged into an APC UPS

PowerGuardian software talks to the UPS via USB, and has scripts to auto-close & backup the database

if power fails.

Mac Mini is running Headless (no monitor) accessed via Apple Remote Desktop

This is a nice setup, and will be even nicer when I upgrade to FM 7 and up the RAM to 1 gig...