External attachment files and security

[hippyshake]

Howdy everyone!

 

I spent time but with no luck to find a solution for our in-house problem regarding security of files. 

 

The question is simple (maybe it isn't even Filemaker related!) but i really do not know how to organize our workflow:

 

5 users are connecting to a FM Server 9 with a mail database and all of the 5 uses are sending quotes out (PDF documents). All of the 5 users have restricted access to the database (export is not allowed, the files are stored in container fields). 

 

Now, the database is getting bigger and slower and we would love to move the container files to a central file sharing volume. In order to get access to the files, the shared volume has to be mounted on the users desktop and this is my problem: this would grant the users access to all the attachment files which is a no-go at this time. 

 

Is there a solution for this problem? Or is there a way to re-organize the attachment Filemaker database?

 

Many thanks for help and advice!

 

Cheers!

 

[Wim Decorte]

If you can upgrade to FM12/13 then you can take advantage of the "Remote Container" feature which lets you store those container data files outside of FM but without having to mount or share those locations.  The FM files stay lean and backups are very fast.

 

If you need to stay with FM9: SuperContainer from 360Works would.

 

But I would strongly suggest upgrading, you're way outside of regular FM support parameters now.

[hippyshake]

Howdy Wim!

 

Many thanks for your help and time. 

 

I have spent now some time trying to tinker a solution for us and i might found something that may be ok.

 

Updating to Filemaker, at least at this time, is out of the question as the Filemaker prices are skyrocketing here in Europe. SuperContainer is, as you have said, pushing the limits and i really do want to keep our solution as simple and reliable as possible. 

 

So, for future reference and future discussion:

 

we will have all the attachment files stored in a folder on a network volume. This folder will be marked as hidden on each of the user computers. Terminal access will be restricted for all users. 

 

Thus, if someone wants to find a file, he will have to know the exactly path to this file. This can be then done through Filemaker scripting.

[Steven H. Blackwell]

This approach does nothing to protect the contents of the folder from misappropriation or theft.  You should seriously consider using FileMaker Server 13 and the capability to encrypt the attachment files in remote storage.

 

What is the potential cost to the company from a breach as compared to upgrade costs for the software?

 

Steven