I need help from you network gurus!

I am running WebStar to serve my HTML only pages and FMP 5 Unlimited to serve my databases. HTML is set to port 80 and WebCompanion is set to Port 591. I am also running the Web Server Connector set to 591.

I want to set up realms in Webstar. Realms allow me to define a keyword. If this keyword is found in the URL, I can set WebStar to deny the request. The problem is that when I send a request to www.mydomain.com:591, it bypasses WebStar and goes directly to FileMaker. As a result, the realm does not work.

I have a T1 with a router with ports 80 and 591 open. My question is, how do I force all incoming traffic to go through WebStar first? Do I need to close 591 and put FMP Unlimited on a different server than WebStar?

I know this is a very specific question. Please help...even conceptual answers will help!

quote:

---

Originally posted by Daveman:

Do I need to close 591 and put FMP Unlimited on a different server than WebStar?

---

This is the most advisable solution -- FileMaker works best when it works alone.

Have all external request routed to the Webstar first. Then you can access the FMPU running on a separate machine for the data. All the formatting pages can stay on the Webstar machine.

You can use the Web Server Connector (a JAVA servlet) to access multiple copies of FMPU running on separate machines drawing files from a CPU running FIleMaker Server. This configuration is called a RAIC.

BTW, FileMaker Inc. no longer supports Webstar (post version 4). Use either Apache or IIS.

HTH

Old Advance Man

Old Advance Man,

Thanks for the reply. OK. So I went out and bought another G4 so I could have my webserver on one computer (x.x.x.105), FMP unlimited on another (x.x.x.106) and my databases on FMP-Server (x.x.x.104). However...

1. URL's containing FMPro? still bypass WebStars's realms (I am using FMU 5.0 so FMWSC should still be compatible with Webstar)

2. If I set WebCompanion in FMU to only accept traffi from the IP address of my webserver (x.x.x.105), I get an access denied error when trying to summon FMP.

OK, Ok I confess! My ultimate goal is to filter out the dnagerous -raw, -dbnames, and -layoutnames commands by either setting a realm in webstar in conjunction with Allow/Deny and/or by restricting the IP address that FMU will accept. However, I am crashing an burning!

Help!

Seems to me that this is a configuration problem with your router. You should be able to configure your router to send all incoming port 80 traffic to the computer that's running webstar, and make the other computers invisible on the WAN side of the router.

Have you tried FMU at a port other than 591? Keep 'Connector' at 591 and redirect to the xxx.xxx.xxx.106 machine at the other port.

That way, traffic for port 591 is directed to the xxx.xxx.xxx.105 machine for handling by 'Connector' , then passed to FMU.

All the best.

Garry

Why don't you just use Lasso (instead of web companion) to interact between webstar and fmp? then you only need one port. And I think lasso solves the security hole that web companion has with the "-raw" data.