Web Server System Requirements

April 20, 200124 yr

Hi folks - I have a question about the system requirements for using FM on the web. I have version 4.1 of Filemaker running on a Macintosh 7350/180 Workgroup Server, with 48 megs of RAM (25 megs allocated to FM).

I have a database that contains 160 fields. Each field is a question in a questionnaire - I want to server the questionnaire over the web. I plan on spreading the questions across 5 or 6 web pages in total, with a maximum of 35 questions on any one page. The questions are mostly radio button response (a choice of 9 buttons per question) so return a single digit entry to the database, but there are also a few text boxes as well (ie. where the respondent types in a short answer) - not sure if all this info. is relevant or not(?)

It's possible that I might have up to 100-200 people trying to complete the questionnaire at the same time (well, not at exactly the same time - but all accessing it within the space of a few minutes, so that some people are starting as others are half-way through etc). To me, this seems like a lot of people!

I don't have any concerns about my network connection here (direct LAN connection on a university campus), and realise that the respondents' set up will also play a part in how well they are able to access the database (ie. their network, their computers etc).

So, setting aside those two issues, given my database requirements, and the hardware/software I've got -

* Should FM be able to handle this type of load without user performance degrading, or am I dreaming?

* What sort of load should the FM web server be able to handle, reaistically?

* If I need to, what's the best way that I could improve performance (I could probably swing a RAM upgrade, *might* be able to move to a (older) G3, but probably won't be able to upgarde to a later version of FM).

Hope this makes sense.

Thanks

Girish..