Please Help: Web Connector??

[Krishan]

Hello friends!

I would really like to serve my FileMaker "Web" folder pages securely using SSL.

Scratchmalogicalwax mentioned the name "Web Connector". I have no idea what Web Connector does and how it works. Can somebody please help me and tell me more about it?

Thank you!!

[Anatoli]

You will have secure server and on this server will be installed Web Connector. Connector is sending requests for data to second machine, connected via Ethernet, which will host databases, FM Unlimited and WebCompanion.

[iBib]

To clarify (and show the possibilities):

You've got one web server connected to the internet, which for example uses IIS and Web (Server) Connector. The Web Connector is used so that the web server always knows where to point requests for Filemaker files.

You also got two computers running Filemaker Unlimited, connected as clients to a Filemaker Server machine via Ethernet. The two computers running Unlimited is also connected to the Web server via Ethernet.

What you have in this example is 4 computers, one Web server connected to the internet and to two computers running Unlimited. These two Unlimited machines is connected to the Web server and to a Filemaker server (so that you don't have to update the databases on several places when making a change. (You could skip the second Unlimited and the Server, this is just for you to get the idea of the benefits of Web Connector).

This way you're pretty sure that no one can intercept the information that is sent between the machines (IF you don't connect the Unlimited to the internet of course).

I'm sure you can include SSL, but I'm not exactly sure how...

Oh, btw: the best reason to use Web Server Connector is that it makes the site much faster since when it will make FM a request, there's a much greater possiblity that a Unlimited computer is free to make the delivery.

I don't know if anyone understands what I'm talking about, I believe that I lost the thread somewhere... Please fill in if something is way off...

[Krishan]

Thanks Anatoli and iBib.

So Web Server Connector provides security by being the middle man between the Internet and the Unlimited computer with the databases?

Thanks for the help and info!

[iBib]

Yea, that's pretty much it

[Anatoli]

Well yes and no. It will increase the security of the system.

But to serve "Secure Encrypted Pages" you must do that on Main Server.

Just to add - you can have up to 5 Unlimited machines serving 1 MS IIS and then the speed of IIS and 5 Unlim. will roughly match.

But another example can be just 2-3 Unlimited machines, without FM server machine, serving 3-10 clients in more demanding sites.

The static sites can all sit on IIS and the database data will be served from each machine.