mac Is FMS the right tool for us?

[fmwannabe]

We setup FMS 13 Trial and it works exactly as expected. And although FileMaker does make an effort to make deployment easy, in actual practice it's not really easy for casual users like me. I spent quite a bit of time online figuring things out that were actually simple. Now it works, but we are using the trial, which runs out in a few weeks. I'm looking at our options.

 

Our situation: We need shared access to our database between two users and we need it for two years at the most. My co-author and I are collecting data for a forthcoming book. We are physically separated by about 30 miles. I am a very long-term user of FileMaker Pro so I set up a database that we could use as a data repository. Once the data is collected, I'll still use FileMaker Pro on our LAN, but we will not have a need to share over the internet. Clients will be a Mac running Yosemite on my end, and a PC running Windows (not sure of the version) on the other end.

 

So, what's the best way for us to share our database over this short period?  I looked at several ways to gain access to our DB during the research period:

 

1. I see that there is a $99 per year plan for 'developers', which is pretty funny in my case actually.

 

This version of Server allows three FMP connections, as I understand it, which would satisfy our needs; we don't need the web stuff:

 

"up to three simultaneous FileMaker Pro 13 and three simultaneous web-based clients for Custom Web Publishing, and one FileMaker WebDirect connection to access hosted FileMaker solutions."

 

 

2. But then on the FileMaker Pro help site something caught my eye: That FileMaker Pro Pro Advanced 13 can share files with up to 5 users over the internet? This would be using Instant Web Publishing, but when I go to Sharing in FMP 13 I see WebDirect (a renaming for the technology I suppose) which clearly says that the file must be 'hosted by Filemaker Server'.

 

 

Could anyone offer some advice before I spend a couple of days trying out the various options?

 

Thanks.

 

Links:

http://help.filemaker.com/app/answers/detail/a_id/7466/~/publishing-databases-on-the-web-with-filemaker-pro-and-filemaker-server

http://www.filemaker.com/technet/

http://www.filemaker.com/technet/dev_license.html

 

[Wim Decorte]

#3: over the internet = WAN access through FMP

 

#3 is not a robust option, it would literally be your copy of FMP that is the host, if you close the file, nobody can get in.  If people are working in the file you will have a performance impact.  And there are no good live backup options that way. And backups are important.

And if you are not in the office with your machine nobody will be able to connect.

 

Better to get a spare machine, set up FMS and hosts the files there.

[LaRetta]

Instead of purchasing FMS, might it not work to use a hosting company where the charge is per month? 

[fmwannabe]

Later: That's possibility of course. With the amount of photos we have the bandwidth drives up the price fairly quickly, though.

 

Wim said: "#3 is not a robust option, it would literally be your copy of FMP that is the host, if you close the file, nobody can get in.  If people are working in the file you will have a performance impact.  And there are no good live backup options that way. And backups are important.

And if you are not in the office with your machine nobody will be able to connect.

 

Better to get a spare machine, set up FMS and hosts the files there."

 

We already have FMS on a spare machine and we have additional copies of FileMaker Pro 13, which is why the original question: could substitution of FMPA 12 to be used as a host work given our need for only two connections at a time? And we don't care much about slow performance. Backup is simple: Time Machine.

[Rick Whitelaw]

Backing up database files with Time Machine isn't a good idea. Best have a script, perhaps on closing, that saves the files to another location and allow TM to back up those files. Exclude the live files from the TM backup.

[Wim Decorte]

Backup is simple: Time Machine.

 

Emphasizing what Rick said.  Using Time Machine on live FM files is a recipe for disaster.  None of the backed-up files will be in a proper state and may not open properly when you restore them.

On a FM host (FMP or FMS, time machine must explicitly be set to exclude the live files).