Hi, I am looking to see if it is possible to share FMPro 5 databases over
the internet, I have designed the a database (with much appreciated help
from the visitors to this group) and would like to share it with my
colleague via Broadband Internet. This may have already been asked so any
advice or point in the right direction will be greatly appreciated.

Many thanks in advance

Nick Lawrence

Nick Lawrence wrote:
> Hi, I am looking to see if it is possible to share FMPro 5 databases over
> the internet, I have designed the a database (with much appreciated help
> from the visitors to this group) and would like to share it with my
> colleague via Broadband Internet. This may have already been asked so any
> advice or point in the right direction will be greatly appreciated.
> 
> Many thanks in advance
> 
> Nick Lawrence
> 
> 

I have set up Internet publishing using FMP 6. FMP 5 probably works the 
same way. For details, see the on-screen Help in Filemaker.

I have done it using Instant Web Publishing, which makes the database 
available to clients through a web browser. Clients do not need 
FileMaker Pro for this kind of access. This works OK, but it is more 
limited than normal database access. You need to give some thought to 
designing the layout for the web publishing, to make available the 
functionality you want over the web.

You can also set it up for direct database sharing over the internet, if 
your client has FMP 5 or FMP 6 (files are compatible between FMP 5 and 
FMP 6). I have not done this, but it is possible. I have set up a 
database for sharing over a local network, but not over the Internet.

In either case, you need to have an IP address that does not change, and 
you need to tell your client the IP address. The database will only be 
available while your computer is connected to the Internet.

Before you make a database available on the Web, think hard about 
security. Anyone with a web browser can find a web-published database, 
and anyone with a copy of FMP 5 or 6 can find a shared database. You 
need to read the section of the Help file about protecting databases, 
and think hard about it, before you actually do any sharing or web 
publishing. There is also a very goood article on this subject on the 
FileMaker web site, which I recommend you read. The title is Web 
Publishing Security Guidelines. The FileMaker web site is at
http://www.filemaker.com

I use FileMaker password access control to protect the database that I 
published.

Bill

The person hosting the database needs to have a static IP address, and 
they need to have port 5003 open (TCP & UDP).  If this is the case, then 
you can just go to Open Hosts>Specify Host and type in the IP address to 
see the list of open files (assuming they are not set to 'hidden').

Nick Lawrence wrote:
> Hi, I am looking to see if it is possible to share FMPro 5 databases over
> the internet, I have designed the a database (with much appreciated help
> from the visitors to this group) and would like to share it with my
> colleague via Broadband Internet. This may have already been asked so any
> advice or point in the right direction will be greatly appreciated.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Howard Schlossberg              (818) 883-2846
FM Pro Solutions       Los Angeles, California
Associate Member, FileMaker Solutions Alliance

This will work, but you will probably find the connection to be 
extremely slow.  A couple of years ago I set up a VPN connection to 
FileMaker Server so that files could be shared at remote locations. 
While it worked, users went to sleep just waiting for all of the files 
to open.  Using a sort took an eternity (at least it seemed that way). 
I finally gave up and installed PcAnywhere.  That works fine, but 
requires a dedicated host computer for each remote user.

Brent Lewis

Howard Schlossberg wrote:
> The person hosting the database needs to have a static IP address, and 
> they need to have port 5003 open (TCP & UDP).  If this is the case, then 
> you can just go to Open Hosts>Specify Host and type in the IP address to 
> see the list of open files (assuming they are not set to 'hidden').
> 
> Nick Lawrence wrote:
> 
>> Hi, I am looking to see if it is possible to share FMPro 5 databases over
>> the internet, I have designed the a database (with much appreciated help
>> from the visitors to this group) and would like to share it with my
>> colleague via Broadband Internet. This may have already been asked so any
>> advice or point in the right direction will be greatly appreciated.
> 
> 
> ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
> Howard Schlossberg              (818) 883-2846
> FM Pro Solutions       Los Angeles, California
> Associate Member, FileMaker Solutions Alliance
> 

Hello Brent,

Just for curiosity's sake:

Various times in this group I have read that such connections are extremely
slow. I have a 2 to 8 Mbps downstream (mostly running at 3,4 Mbps) / 1 Mbps
upstream connection - would that still be insufficient for "decent"
functioning?

-- 


Met vriendelijke groet / Mit freundlichen Gr��en / With kind regards
Christoph Bouthillier
post (-a-t-) no-no-spam tekstotaal dot com
Please remove "no-no-spam" when e-mailing me directly - Thanks
------
"Brent Lewis" <brentallenlewis@earthlink.net> schreef in bericht
news:Zs6_b.15920$hm4.9412@newsread3.news.atl.earthlink.net...
> This will work, but you will probably find the connection to be
> extremely slow.  A couple of years ago I set up a VPN connection to
> FileMaker Server so that files could be shared at remote locations.
> While it worked, users went to sleep just waiting for all of the files
> to open.  Using a sort took an eternity (at least it seemed that way).
> I finally gave up and installed PcAnywhere.  That works fine, but
> requires a dedicated host computer for each remote user.
>
> Brent Lewis
>
> Howard Schlossberg wrote:
> > The person hosting the database needs to have a static IP address, and
> > they need to have port 5003 open (TCP & UDP).  If this is the case, then
> > you can just go to Open Hosts>Specify Host and type in the IP address to
> > see the list of open files (assuming they are not set to 'hidden').
> >
> > Nick Lawrence wrote:
> >
> >> Hi, I am looking to see if it is possible to share FMPro 5 databases
over
> >> the internet, I have designed the a database (with much appreciated
help
> >> from the visitors to this group) and would like to share it with my
> >> colleague via Broadband Internet. This may have already been asked so
any
> >> advice or point in the right direction will be greatly appreciated.
> >
> >
> > ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
> > Howard Schlossberg              (818) 883-2846
> > FM Pro Solutions       Los Angeles, California
> > Associate Member, FileMaker Solutions Alliance
> >
>

I have indeed found the port 5003 connections slow over the internet.  I 
have also found the PCAnywhere and Timbuktu connections to be somewhat 
latent, though not nearly as bad as the port 5003 connection.  The best 
possible connections I've found to be Terminal Services or Citrix, where 
there's nearly no noticable delay.

Christoph Bouthillier wrote:
> Hello Brent,
> 
> Just for curiosity's sake:
> 
> Various times in this group I have read that such connections are extremely
> slow. I have a 2 to 8 Mbps downstream (mostly running at 3,4 Mbps) / 1 Mbps
> upstream connection - would that still be insufficient for "decent"
> functioning?

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Howard Schlossberg              (818) 883-2846
FM Pro Solutions       Los Angeles, California
Associate Member, FileMaker Solutions Alliance

Christoph, my connection speed was only 384 bps going both directions 
and I needed to open over 30 files for my solution.  I'm sure that 
connecting at the speeds that you describe would be much faster--might 
even be acceptable.  Let us know if you get a chance to experiment.

I'm also certain that the use of Terminal Services or Citrix would be a 
better solution than pcAnywhere (at least if there is a need for 
multiple remote connections).  However, even using pcAnywhere at dial-up 
speeds, I had no problem accessing, using, and servicing the solution. 
At cable modem speeds all processes are nearly as fast as being there.

Brent

Christoph Bouthillier wrote:
> Hello Brent,
> 
> Just for curiosity's sake:
> 
> Various times in this group I have read that such connections are extremely
> slow. I have a 2 to 8 Mbps downstream (mostly running at 3,4 Mbps) / 1 Mbps
> upstream connection - would that still be insufficient for "decent"
> functioning?
> 

"Nick Lawrence" <nick@impactss.com> wrote in message news:<c15a3l$22n$1@titan.btinternet.com>...
> Hi, I am looking to see if it is possible to share FMPro 5 databases over
> the internet, I have designed the a database (with much appreciated help
> from the visitors to this group) and would like to share it with my
> colleague via Broadband Internet. This may have already been asked so any
> advice or point in the right direction will be greatly appreciated.

I'd add Timbuktu & GoToMyPC as relatively inexpensive options for
secure, direct, remote access by a limited number of users.

As another option, please take a look at SyncDeK
<http://www.syncdek.com/>

This enables synchronization as a way to share data between multiple,
"distributed" users who each have a copy of the database.  This is an
alternative to allowing remote "access" to your single copy when both
of you are online at the same time.

Sharing this way is "asynchronous", so your collaboration needs to
tolerate latency equivalent to using email (send & receive).  But
direct client access and web access are not required (e.g. port 591,
5003, 80, 443, etc.) . This removes many of the security issues with
configuring your database and your firewall to allow direct access
through FileMaker Pro or a web interface.

Some questions to ask when considering Peer-to-Peer, Client/Server,
Web, Terminal and Synchronization/Distributed options with FileMaker:
Do you want your colleague to create, modify and delete new records?
Will you be online at the same time as your colleague?
How often do you need to share data?

Jay Gonzales
WorldSync, Inc.  (Developers of SyncDeK)
http://www.worldsync.com

Hello Brent,

If you have an innocent test file somewhere to access I'd be happy to test
the direct connection speed through port 5003 with my nice ADSL, for
curiosity's sake. You can e-mail me in private.

-- 


Met vriendelijke groet / Mit freundlichen Gr��en / With kind regards
Christoph Bouthillier
post (-a-t-) no-no-spam tekstotaal dot com
Please remove "no-no-spam" when e-mailing me directly - Thanks
------
"Brent Lewis" <brentallenlewis@earthlink.net.nospam> schreef in bericht
news:Qeq_b.16799$W74.3386@newsread1.news.atl.earthlink.net...
> Christoph, my connection speed was only 384 bps going both directions
> and I needed to open over 30 files for my solution.  I'm sure that
> connecting at the speeds that you describe would be much faster--might
> even be acceptable.  Let us know if you get a chance to experiment.
>
> I'm also certain that the use of Terminal Services or Citrix would be a
> better solution than pcAnywhere (at least if there is a need for
> multiple remote connections).  However, even using pcAnywhere at dial-up
> speeds, I had no problem accessing, using, and servicing the solution.
> At cable modem speeds all processes are nearly as fast as being there.
>
> Brent
>
> Christoph Bouthillier wrote:
> > Hello Brent,
> >
> > Just for curiosity's sake:
> >
> > Various times in this group I have read that such connections are
extremely
> > slow. I have a 2 to 8 Mbps downstream (mostly running at 3,4 Mbps) / 1
Mbps
> > upstream connection - would that still be insufficient for "decent"
> > functioning?
> >
>