Pardon me if this has been discussed before. I have tried reading through the old topics but haven't seen anything quite like what I'm after.

Here's the deal - we've got a database that we want to be able to host and share using either FMP or Filemaker Pro Advanced. I know that if you're in a LAN, you can open the file and choose sharing, and others in the network can see the hosted files and open them remotely.

I also know that it's possible to use Instant Web Publishing to share the databases on the web. However, we have a remote office where we need to have all the capabilities, including exporting/importing and modifying layouts, so that solution doesn't work for us.

We have a web server in house running Linux. It doubles as a file server here. (I think web users are assigned a different userid which can only access certain directories...not sure.)

Is there a way to move our FMP files into the web shared portion of our server so that we could enter the IP or web address (something like database.oursite.com - provided I update the CNAME stuff in GoDaddy properly) and use that for remote sharing? Or is this way too much and we need to look into getting FileMaker Server?

Please let me know if I've made this question ridiculously confusing and I'll try to clarify.

If you want to web enable your solution you will need FM Server Advanced.

If you just want to share it remotely though, you would need to setup a VPN or something similar. There are a few posts on here regardng remote access. You will of course need another license of FM in the remote location and I would definately recommend getting FM Server over Peer to Peer.

You would need to run OS X or Windows to be able to use FileMaker Server Advanced on your server.

Also note that you could use a service like ours:

http://www.pointinspace.com/

to avoid having to pay the $$$$ for the FileMaker Server Advanced license, upgrades, etc. And then we also maintain the servers - no small task.

- John

I would definately recommend getting FM Server over Peer to Peer.

Absolutely!! This is good advice.

Steven

With FM Server Advanced (or Point in Space) would I be able to allow end users to modify database definitions, layouts, etc as well as import and export data?

Sure thing! You can use the built-in FileMaker security on your database just the same, allowing for multiple users with separate permissions, etc.

- John