FileMaker Deployment Options

One of the strengths of FileMaker is that a solution can be deployed in various ways. With this flexibility, FileMaker can fit many different needs, and it can change and adapt as your organization evolves. This chapter offers a brief overview of the ways a FileMaker database can be deployed. Several of these methods are discussed in depth in their own chapters elsewhere in the book, but we bring them all together here to give you a broad view of the deployment landscape. We also go into detail here on a couple of specific deployment possibilities, those surrounding the creation of runtime solutions and the use of plug-ins.

Your deployment decisions depend on a number of factors. How many users will need access to the database? Where are they located? Are they all on the same local area network? Do other systems or applications need access to the data? Some of the deployment decisions may involve additional investment in hardware, or learning new skills. Some deployment options depend on others. Theres no way to do Custom Web Publishing, for example, without using FileMaker Server Advanced. Finally, most of the deployment options are not mutually exclusive. You might have both FileMaker Pro clients and web clients accessing the same files hosted by FileMaker Server.