MAC FMS and Corrupt database

[Shaun Hutchinson]

Hey all,

I've been running a FMS locally for about 5 years with no issues. We have an XServe and a large database with about 20 users and a ton of data. Our salespeople access it remotely from home on their laptops and via FileMaker Go.

We recently merged with another company and are in the process of moving them to our FileMaker solution. For a short term solution, I installed a Mac Mini Server running 10.7 in their office (they're in SC and we're in FL) connected to a 1.5Mbit T1 line (not fast but about the best they're going to get in that area...and the same that we have here). To convert them, I made a clone of our database and imported their data into it, matching the appropriate fields from Salesforce and Quickbooks.

I worked with the file for a couple of weeks and everything was fantastic. A week ago, I installed the equipment, loaded the database into FileMaker Server and let her rip. Everything SEEMED fine until last Friday when layout elements and value lists began to disappear. I pulled all the backups but they were damaged beyond repair. Recover wouldn't open them. I'm not too concerned about the data because they only had a week to enter new stuff and didn't do much, and I had a copy saved from before I put it on their server.

Every time I attempt to recover the file, It tells me that the account was tampered with or damaged. I spent all day Friday and today trying to run down the possible causes of the corruption but keep coming up short. My file pre-upload tests fine and we're running the same solution in our office with no problems. I thought it must have been a fluke, so I uploaded it back to the server. I connected and started working. Within a few minutes, I lost the connection and when I pulled the file to test it, it was corrupt and kept hanging the Filemaker app causing me to force quit it.

I know that speed can be an issue and that losing connection while working can cause some data corruption, but is it possible for it to be THAT bad as to render a previously functioning database unuseable? I uploaded another good copy of the file onto my local server and it's chugging along just fine. I even tested it for a while using a mobile card so that I could access it off my LAN.

I'm tearing my hair out. Could it be an issue with the Server? With the equipment? Anyone run into this before?

Thanks!

S.

[innodat]

We had something similar at a client site once...

I had looked at the file and found no corruption. It was running just fine on a local FileMaker client. Their IT department decided to upgrade internet connection - no success. The database kept crashing, hanging, data kept showing up as duplicates/disappearing and all kinds of plain wired things were happening. I was finally able to convince them to get a brand new MacMini (with Server OS), install a fresh copy of FMS and load the database - and all issues were gone.

Their "old" FMS 10 server (Intel XServe, upgraded from 10.5 to 10.6 over time) had been running for a couple of years and was also burdened with file-sharing, web and other services. Still, we never found a specific cause for the crashes.