windows network with fm server on mac

[swf]

I am looking for advice on setting up filemaker server. We have a windows server 2003 with about 8 machines attached over ethernet. I would like to add a mac mini to be a dedicated machine with filemaker server running and hosting a database to windows machines (mixture of windows software but mostly xp). The windows machines would obviously have filemaker pro client software. There are also several networked printers with static ip address. I am planning to upgrade mac mini to 512 mb and buy a firewire hardrive for all the backup needs. Also mac mini has cd burner for additional backup. The IT network person we use has very little experience with mac. Is this a good idea or will it create problems? Thanks

[Wim Decorte]

Mac Minis have very slow hard disks. In my book they are unsuitable as server machines. If you want to be cheap, spend the same amount of money on a Window box and you'll get better performance.

[stanley]

Swf:

I do not believe that the Mac mini is a good choice for a FM Server box, mainly because it uses a slow laptop drive, and FMServer spends a great deal of its time reading & writing from/to the drive. If price is the problem, you'd be better off with an old G4 tower, if not, get a bottom of the line G5 tower. Having said that, the rest of your setup would work great - the external FW drive for scheduled backups is a great way to go, and the CD burner is a must. Also, I'd say that a modern Mac requires 512MB of RAM at a bare minimum. Remember that the mini only has a single RAM slot, so upgrading can get expensive.

Otherwise, there is no problem with hosting FMS on a Mac for Windows clients - FileMaker handles all the networking - and the only issue you'll have is that your IT guy will gripe about OSX because he can't figure out how to set the IP address on the mini because it's too blindingly obvious and simple.

-Stanley

[DykstrL]

The only thing I would add besides what Stanley and Wim said is: if the rest of your shop is PCs, then why not stick with that. If your IT network person is more familiar with Windows and PCs, then why not? There is no penalty for using either platform for FM server. The only difference is with version 7 server, you really do need a "server class" hardware platform - maybe not high end, but it does now need to be a true "server" box.

[swf]

The rationale was as follows

1)mac is simpler to set up (at least for me) and I am managing the filemaker server on a day to day basis. The IT person is contacted periodically for maintenance and troubleshooting. It is a small business)

2) Footprint. I could not find anything comparable in pc that would fit nicely in the corner. No permanent monitor or keyboard is needed for the filemaker server to run continuously. I could just attach keyboard, mouse and monitor weekly to check it or use a KVM switch.

3) Price- I am unable to find a decent SMALL pc with windows xp pro for $500-600. Maybe I have not looked hard enough.

4) We will be hosting likely 2-3 databases to maximum 6-7 users and likely only 2 simultaneous users. Largest database is only 2.5 MB currently.

To me it just seemed perfect in that it is so small and would just stay on night and day running filemaker.

With regards to hooking it into the network, do I have to do anything besides assign a static ip address to it under networking?

The printing would all occur from the clients and filemaker server could automate the backup to a firewire drive.

[stanley]

SWF:

Yes, if you're the one who will be dealing with it, and you're a Mac person, by all means go with the Mac. Footprint, price, all make sense. And actually, for such a small solution, you might have no problem at all with the Mac mini. I don't know of anyone using a mini as a FileMaker server, but that doesn't mean it should NEVER be used as a server. If you're not cranking tons of images out, and if your databases are fairly small, the slow drive shouldn't be a major problem - you might want to tweak cache settings, etc - and I know you can also get a faster drive if it becomes an issue, but the mini is notoriously difficult to work inside of...

Regarding the networking, set up a static IP address, make sure that file-sharing and AppleTalk are both turned off so that nobody can get into the directories. Set Energy Saver to never sleep (both the macine and the hard drive, too.) That's about it.

-Stanley