Using file maker for an on-line ticketing application

[Paxo]

Hi There

I am not a user but a business owner who needs some independent advice. I have a ticketing service that sells tickets to shows. Currently we use a file maker application for desktop sales.

We wanted to go to a much bigger on line service and commissioned this in FMP. It is now running but in big trouble speed wise. I am getting conflicting advice. The developer says it is my server provider but I have a Unix developer saying that it was a mistake to use FMP as it really is not designed for something that need to serve lots of concurrent on line users.

So I am in a position where I don't know whether to persist with FMP or get a new version made in SQL.

Independent advice would be gratefully appreciated.

John

[Sunshein]

John, Filemaker Pro Server 9 Advanced can handle up to 250 simultaneous users. As you said, your ticket sales are desktop sales thus I doubt you need to change from Filemaker Pro.

I would guess your server is a bit slow and possibly your database is not formatted properly which may be causing a slow down in processing.

.... and you're writing to the forum from ..... where .....?

[IdealData]

There are many factors governing FMP performance which are almost never noticed in a LAN environment because there's so much bandwidth available. When you reduce the bandwidth, as you have done by using an external server then you expose the inefficiencies in the database. The following is not an exhaustive list, but definitely do affect performance:

Complicated and large graphics on screen layouts

Unstored calculations

Portals with sorting requirements

Summary fields on display

It's not clear how many users you have, but basically they are all now trying to get to the database through a very narrow pipe (your DSL connection) - even a large 20Mb service would struggle with significant (50?) users accessing the FM server permanently.

Your service provider needs to be providing an un-restricted service, in that the bandwidth is not limited.

Go back to your FMP developer and ask him to think of things that could cause a slow down, like the list above.

If you get no joy then e-mail me and I will give you an opinion from 12 years of experience.

[Steven H. Blackwell]

Proper server architecture is key to effective WAN based performance, especially hard drives and memory. There are many additional factors as well, including--as mentioned-file architecture.

Steven