Efficiency of FM with Lasso?

[LML]

Hello all,

I read some info on a Lasso group lately that disappointed me about using FM as my db of choice for myself and for my clients. It was said that FM DBs run extremely slow when even as few as 20 users log into a site. Is this true? I'm just getting to understand FM and Lasso, and now I'm panicked that I have to dump FM in favor of MySQL. What are the thoughts on that? My use for FM is two fold: (1) as a back end to small clients (under 500 records) sites and ecomm sites (2) as standalone applications/dbs for clients to run.

Thanks.

[scratchmalogicalwax]

Hi

It really depends on your application and how much data you expect to be going between your database and the guest.

FMPro Unlimited is a single threaded application which means that only one guest can be adding updating or searching at any one time. If the application doesn't require too much data to be sent backwards and forwards or doesn't require complex searches then the length of time the FMPro application is tied up with a users' request is only a fraction of a second (if you are using a fast and dedicated machine). So in any one second you may have the capacity for more than one user to query the database.

Extra capacity can be added by adding more DB clients to you setup and running FMServer (optional). If you speread your DBs across the clients you reduce the load on any one client. Sadly Lasso 3.6 doesn't load balance across multiple clients as WSC does so the only option is to spread your datbases across multiple clients. I have never got WSC to work with Lasso properly although some have.

Unlike WC alone Lasso allows for more processing of data without the need to continually contact a database. By reducing the amount of database activity and concetrating the processing at Lasso, which is multi threaded, you can increases the performance of your FMPro - Lasso solution.

FMPro can handle a lot of traffic but is not suitable if you are expecting very high levels. The amount of traffic that it can handle can be increased significantly by setting up correctly and writing your application intelligently.

[Anatoli]

I didn

[LML]

Thank you both for the good feedback. I feel more confident in continuing with FM for myself and for my clients.

With that said, can either of you point me to a shopping system I can purchase for a new client?

I have to use FM dbs, but it could run on either a Lasso server, or a FM server.

I have looked at Brian Dunning's Weblet Shopping solution, but it needs me to do a great deal of development to get it ready for my client's needs.

Also, I have looked at Ch-Ching software and am hugely disappointed that they are switching to Java-based effective now. They charge $799 for the new edition, plus and additional $999 for a J-talk Java adapter... too steep for this client, and I don't want it Java-based.

I want to use FM. Help? Suggestions? I have searched the web and came up nearly empty.

Thank you.

[John May - Point In Space]

You may want to consider the older Ch-Ching 2.6.x version. Complete info on it can be found on our site at http://www.pointinspace.com/chching/

- John