Administrator’s Guide (Mac OS)

A-4 FileMaker Pro Server Administrator’s Guide
Performance and usage tips
If you find that FileMaker Pro Server is sluggish performing certain
operations, try the following:
1 Run FileMaker Pro Server on a dedicated computer. Don’t use other
applications, especially processor-intensive programs or programs that
create a high level of network traffic (for example, AppleShare, electronic
mail servers, and group scheduling software) on this computer. If this
isn’t possible, always run FileMaker Pro Server as the front-most
application. In other words, don’t switch to another application and work
in its window while FileMaker Pro Server is running in the background.
1 Locate database files you want FileMaker Pro Server to host on the same
computer as FileMaker Pro Server. Put them in the same folder as (or
subfolders one level down of) the FileMaker Pro Server application to
take advantage of the application’s ability to automatically open these
files on start-up. Also, only database files (or aliases) located in the
FileMaker Pro Server 3.0 Folder can be opened remotely (see “Opening
a database file remotely” on page 2-24).
1 Increase the application memory partition to the maximum available on
your computer (see “Adjusting memory” on page 1-10 for details). This
increases the database cache FileMaker Pro Server uses. Avoid using the
virtual memory option available with System 7 or any other third party
virtual memory utility with FileMaker Pro Server.
1 Reduce the number of guests able to access FileMaker Pro Server
using Maximum number of guests in the Preferences dialog box. (See
“Customizing FileMaker Pro Server” on page 2-12.)
1 Reduce the maximum number of files that can be hosted by
FileMaker Pro Server using Maximum number of files in the Preferences
dialog box. (See “Customizing FileMaker Pro Server” on page 2-12.)
This increases the database cache FileMaker Pro Server uses.
1 Run only one copy of FileMaker Pro Server per computer.
1 Although it’s possible to run FileMaker Pro as a guest of FileMaker Pro
Server on the same computer that FileMaker Pro Server is running on,
FileMaker Pro performs very slowly. Use FileMaker Pro remotely to
work with database files hosted by FileMaker Pro Server.