FM Go 14

[adyf]

Just a simple question if I may, can FM Go 14 on an ipad connect to a file hosted by Filemaker Pro 14 on a macbook via 3G? I'm unsure if Filemaker Server 14 is a necessity. Would my router need configuring for port forwarding as the ipad and macbook wouldn't be on the same local network?

[Ocean West]

I would advocate to use a hosting company to ensure uptime / backups and more reliable connectivity.

macbook could turn off go to sleep / crash  and that a file running on the MBP is not being backed up.

 

[OlgerDiekstra]

If you want it done securely, use a vpn from the iPad to your router (or if your router doesn't support vpn endpoints, forward that traffic to an internal machine, such as your Mac). Your iPad should now be able to connect to the FM DB as it is effectively on the local network.

Alternatively, if you have a static ip address on your router, a port forward to your Mac might work. If you have a dynamic ip address on your router, you'd have to use something like Dynamic DNS to register your IP address of the router, and use the DNS name to connect to your FM DB. Dynamic DNS can be setup on the router (easiest) if it supports it, or you can install a client on your Mac to handle it.

If your opening a port as opposed to using a VPN, then don't use the standard port. You can forward the nonstandard port on the router to the standard FM port internally. Also make sure you use a strong password. It's very easy to sniff what ports are open on a router and what's listening on that port.

[Ocean West]

It sounds like you  have a very small deployment requirement. (one)

another option is register for FileMaker's Subscription plan you get a 3 user Developer license of FMS - Following Olger's advice above you could run FMS on that macbook so you

could connect remotely to it - at least the database can be backing up. It allows 3 client copies of FMP and one FMGo/WD connection.

https://store.filemaker.com/US/ENG/RTL/product/view/group/FDS?id_membership=

[adyf]

It sounds like you  have a very small deployment requirement. (one)

another option is register for FileMaker's Subscription plan you get a 3 user Developer license of FMS - Following Olger's advice above you could run FMS on that macbook so you

could connect remotely to it - at least the database can be backing up. It allows 3 client copies of FMP and one FMGo/WD connection.

https://store.filemaker.com/US/ENG/RTL/product/view/group/FDS?id_membership=

Yes, it's only for me to access. If you use a hosting company, does it need to be one that supports filemaker hosting and not just an ordinary web hosting company?

And if a file is hosted by a hosting company, can you access your file direct from Filemaker Go without the need to have a PC or mac with Filemaker installed running?

[Ocean West]

With any FMP hosting companies they are using their custom licensed version of FMS,  your database may be on a box with several other hosting clients. 
In addition they would also have enough concurrent connections for the server which hosts your database. 

For best performance choose a hosting company that has servers that are geographically close to where you will be deploying. 

Once you sign up you can upload your file thru either a company's portal or directly with FMP upload to server from your client copy of FMP.

Then you will be able to access your database thru your copy of FMP, and also on FMGO and even WD, via a URL that you would be provided. Your hosting provider should also provide backup service as well.

Please make sure you adequately password protect your file and disable guest access - also consider Encryption At Rest if you need to ensure your backup files are protected.

[adyf]

Thanks for the replies to date, very helpful.

When you upload a file from FM Pro to FM Server, do you then in effect have two seperate copies of the same file? If so, do they automatically remain in sync, or do you work in them both independently?

 

[Rick Whitelaw]

They don't remain in sync. If you choose to develop offline you must upload the updated file to the server.

[Ocean West]

You would cease development and data entry on the original file - when using the built in option to upload to server the process sets a bit on the local file when you open the file again it will remind you that the file was moved to the server and give you the option to open the local or remote file.

My recommendation is to zip the file and trash the .fmp12 file as it will soon diverge as all development and data entry will take place on the server. There is no "sync" between offline and online file, however there are methods to build a "sync" type solution for offline files where the deployed iPad can't operate in a  WIFI environment or the LTE or 4G is not available. But most of these methods require server to host the file and there are two well regarded 3rd Party solution to manage this - MirrorSync and GoZync - In addition to building something native yourself in fileMaker - there is an open source framework for this called FMEasySync.

[adyf]

They don't remain in sync. If you choose to develop offline you must upload the updated file to the server.

You would cease development and data entry on the original file - when using the built in option to upload to server the process sets a bit on the local file when you open the file again it will remind you that the file was moved to the server and give you the option to open the local or remote file.

My recommendation is to zip the file and trash the .fmp12 file as it will soon diverge as all development and data entry will take place on the server. There is no "sync" between offline and online file, however there are methods to build a "sync" type solution for offline files where the deployed iPad can't operate in a  WIFI environment or the LTE or 4G is not available. But most of these methods require server to host the file and there are two well regarded 3rd Party solution to manage this - MirrorSync and GoZync - In addition to building something native yourself in fileMaker - there is an open source framework for this called FMEasySync.

Thank you for the clarification.

[adyf]

To connect to a file through filemaker web direct, does it need to pull a lot of data through? I have no problem with an iPad on wifi but it won't work with 3G. Just wondered if it's a common issue.