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FileMaker - Client/Server Applications

ITAG standard #1: A Client/Server (C/S) architecture must be used for all non-web applications.

Sharing data with FileMaker

For solutions that are not web-enabled, FileMaker offers two methods of sharing a database: peer-to-peer networking and hosting through FileMaker Server. Peer-to-peer networking is unstable, insecure, and therefore not compliant with best practices for sharing data. Hosting databases through FileMaker Server is the only approved means of sharing FileMaker data, when configured properly.

Peer-to-peer data sharing is not approved for use in the MIT network environment. Many community members have discovered, however, that FileMaker databases can be accessed on a desktop computer by another desktop client by enabling TCP/IP access to the database file on the "host" computer. Once you turn Network Sharing on, you may make the file available to all FileMaker users or you may restrict access by specified privilege sets.

If it's so easy to set up, why not share peer-to-peer? Here are a few reasons why not:

  • The connection between the host file and users can not be encrypted via SSL, so all data sharing is insecure.
  • The host machine is unlikely to be dedicated solely to hosting FileMaker files and is therefore more likely to suffer performance issues, including crashes.
  • There is no backup utility native to the FileMaker Pro client, so data recovery in case of a crash is problematic.

For those reasons and more, MIT does not recommend the use of peer-to-peer sharing of FileMaker databases.

FileMaker Server

FileMaker databases are properly hosted using the FileMaker Server application, which runs as a service on Windows or a daemon on Mac OS X. Fmserverd is the database engine. Fmserv_helperd is the service that exposes the server to FileMaker clients; it must be running for the engine to launch.

FileMaker Server can accept up to 250 concurrent connections from FileMaker clients, and can host up to 125 files. For best performance, it should be run on a dedicated, server-class computer with a server operating system. No other unrelated applications should be running on the server. Be sure that your FileMaker Server and client versions match, patch for patch.

For more information on setting up FileMaker Server, see the Getting Started Guide and FileMaker Server 9 Help.

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