There are three factors to consider when optimising your FileMaker Server:
Hardware
Network
Software
We've outlined the best practices for these three elements to help you get your Streamtime working to its maximum potential.
1. Hardware
Make sure that your hardware meets the minimum specifications. See the FMS 14 System Requirements.
The more RAM, the better.
Use a fast computer with a fast hard drive. Choose SSD over spinning/magnetic drives. RAID configurations will also offer additional performance gains.
Have at least 20GB free disk space.
2. Network
Use Ethernet over WiFi. Using WiFi on your server will significantly decrease Streamtime performance.
Local area networks should be at least 10Mbps or better. The faster the connection, the better the network performance, especially for many users on a large network.
If possible, use switches instead of hubs. Hubs broadcast data whereas a switch will give a more direct route from the client to the server.
Multiple NICs can be teamed to create a single channel that has the effective bandwidth of the sum of the NICs. For example, two 1Gb cards may be teamed to produce an effective throughput of 2Gb. This can improve FileMaker’s performance if the network infrastructure supports it.
3. Software (FileMaker Server)
- Server Configuration (Mac OSX)
Install FileMaker Server on a dedicated machine on a supported operating system.
Increase FileMaker Server Cache setting up to 50% of available RAM - more the better.
Do not run other services, such as email, print or file sharing on the same machine running FileMaker Server.
Do not use system backup software to backup the live database files served by FileMaker Server.
Do not use anti-virus software to scan the live database files hosted by FileMaker Server.
Disable screen savers and energy-saving functions that may interrupt access to the files hosted by FileMaker Server.
Turn off Spotlight indexing, this can reduce the performance of FileMaker Server.
Verify that Time Machine is configured to exclude the FileMaker Server folder, or disable it entirely.
- Server Configuration (Windows)
Install FileMaker Server on a dedicated machine on a supported operating system.
Increase FileMaker Server Cache setting up to 50% of available RAM - The more, the better.
Do not run other services, such as email, print or file sharing on the same machine running FileMaker Server.
Do not use system backup software to backup the live database files served by FileMaker Server.
Do not use anti-virus software to scan the live database files hosted by FileMaker Server.
Disable screen savers and energy-saving functions that may interrupt access to the files hosted by FileMaker Server.
Turn off Windows Indexing Service. This can reduce the performance of FileMaker Server.
Disable Windows Shadow Copy.
The above information is pulled from the FileMaker Server Configuration Guide available on the FileMaker Technical Network. To access this guide you'll need to be a member, but it’s free to join.