Large solutions with many users

[peronn]

Hi everyone,

I have a rather large solution in one file. 30 layouts and lot's of data ca 5000 records.

Right now only approx. 5 clients access it but I wan't to know if it is possible to have approx. 80 clients accesing it and working everyday in it.

This ofcourse has to be a FileMaker server-solution. But will it work? Anyone that has any experience of large solutions like this?

What should i do to optimize my file for this? And what kind of hardware do you suggest, mac or pc adn what kind of server?

All the clients accessing won't be in the same LAN or even same city

Thankfull for any input at all.

Edited January 29, 2006 by Guest

[flapjacks]

I currently use 7 & 7 server with up to 8 or 9 users at a time. I program from home often with Citrix (slow). I have an old Dell server and all works fine. As far as specs go I know that FileMaker has specs available on the web regarding the best choices.

John

[Ender]

Hi peronn,

Yes, FileMaker Server can host up to 250 clients. For 80 clients you should be running it on a server class machine (like a G5 or Xserve,) running OS X Server with at least 2 GB of RAM. If possible, have the databases on a fast hard drive (not on the same partition as the System.) If some of your clients will be connecting over a slow WAN connection, their experience will be significantly slower than that of the LAN clients. You should test everything over the slow connection to see if there are some operations that need to be redesigned for the slower connections.

You will also need a good backup plan, utilizing the scheduled backup capabilities of FM Server, but including regular backups to CD or another hard drive. I have my files backed up four times a day to a local drive, then have a nightly backup to a drive on another computer. In addition, I burn monthly archives and store them off-site.

One thing that can become a big issue when lots of clients start working in a solution is record locking. This happens when two users attempt to edit the same record. In most cases, this is a good thing, but sometimes it happens when the previous user is not actively editing the record. You want to avoid situations where users all have to go through the same few records, as in certain login scripts. And you want to commit record changes before navigation to other windows.

If you have other specific questions about server issues and configurations, you might search the FileMaker Server forums to see if they have already been answered in those threads.

[flapjacks]

Ender

Thanks I forgot the backup. I back up daily to a seperate hard drive on another machine and also nightly to a tape which of course is stored off site. I use 10 tapes M,T,W,T,F - A & B. I can't tell you how many times the backups have pulled my cookies out of the fire. Not just with FMP but Exchange and other user docs. My network is only about 20 in house and 6 off site but backups are a must.

John

[peronn]

Hi and thanks fo your answers.

If I choose a G5 or Xserver can PC users access this to?

What do you mean with a slow WAN (i know it's wide area network) connection? How slow is that? Do you mean the clients that will be ofsite? :)

[Ender]

Well, slow is a relative term. If your solution is graphic intensive, then T1 (1.5Mb) will be slow. For most of us in the U.S., T1 is pretty good. When looking at DSL and Cable Modem speeds, you have to look at the slowest of the clients download speed and the host's upload speed. This could be as good as 1Mb or as bad as 256K. Compare that to the speed of the LAN, which is probably 100Mb. Dial-up connections are all very slow, and are too slow to use for a regular connection to a FileMaker database.

Some companies (and some geographic areas) have fiber optic networks connecting distant locations, providing speeds up to 100Mb or higher.

If you have clients with those slow connections, you might consider Citrix or Terminal Services. I'm no expert on how that works, but you can find details within these forums.

FM Server can host both Mac and PC clients.

[flapjacks]

Ender & All

Citrix is not a lighting bolt. It works BUT graphics are slow and any vidio or sound is non-existant.

John