I've published a database over the internet using Developer 7 - pretty easy. I also know that Server Advanced can do the same and a whole lot more. I just can't shell out $2500 for testing if I don't need it.

Now the middle part. Can Server 7 publish the same way over the Internet as Developer can? I could change the port on Developer - but didn't see a clear way of publishing or port changing with Server. The 5 concurrent connections of Developer are about what we need and does work, but as I understand the license you can only use it for development/testing and not for production.

If we stayed with Developer 7 for publishing, are there any draw backs of not using Server Advanced? (Assuming there are no web publishing with Server)

If anyone has a way of me testing Server Advanced, or a way to lower costs for only needing a handful of users, I'd like to hear it. I've heard of FX something. Has anyone had luck with this?

changing ports for FMSA is done on your web server, not on FMSA. Just like a normal web server configuration.

Drawbacks on using Developer for web hosting: stability. Performance maybe but that may not be too big an issue with only 5 users. If your not using FMS to host the files Developer is web serving then you have a backup problem: you'll need to close the files in Developer before you can backup. FMS can take live backups.

As to testing: FSA membership comes with a copy of FMD and an 3-user license of FMSA. Not sure if that special testing license is available through other means.

Thanks for the answer, I've learned alot. With regards to the acronyms above, what is "FSA membership"? I'd really like to get ahold of Filemaker Server Advanced to test.