> I'm part of a non-profit spiritual education group that is deciding to use
> ebase to manage its mailing list. How does one share the database created
> on ebase with other members at remote locations? Is there a password that
> allows remote users to access our organization's data? We are planning to
> get Filemaker Pro so we can customize our database. Although I am very
> familiar with Filemaker from my regular job, I don't quite understand the
> role ebase will play in our organization. We want to be able to update
> the records from 3 separate locations--three different volunteers will be
> entering/changing data, each from her home computer. Is one of us the
> "host", or is ebase the "host" for our data? How do we protect our
> group's data on the ebase server? I'm probably clueless, as these
> questions show!
>
There are no cheap solutions for remote sharing.
"or is ebase the "host"" does not make sense and implies a fundamental
missunderstanding. The host is ebase running on FileMaker on some machine,
not ebase itself unless you mean to imply that TechRocks provides a host -
they do not. ebase is just an application running on FileMaker.
One machine must be the host (and generally best if it is always the same
machine). It is not obvious from the above whether you have only the three
volunteer machines or if there is a fourth machine in the office. Most
individual machines do not have a fixed IP address and are difficult to deal
with remotely because it it not obvious how to contact it. Even most offices
do not have a fixed IP address, e.g. they are on a cable modem or DSL from
some ISP. FileMaker's protection mechanisms are on the feable side. You need
to rely on the OS protection mechanisms, e.g. Windows 98 will not do - there
is none. You also need to look at appropriate firewalls. Do your 3
volunteers need simultaneous access or can they work on a non-conflicting
schedule. In the latter case you can use PC-Anywhere or GoToMyPC to get
remote access to a single machine running ebase at the office. This may be
tollerable even on a modem connection because you only move screen data, not
the database.
There are more expensive solutions using MS Terminal Server, or high speed
lines and VPN connections.
Different restrictions apply depending on whether you are PC, Mac or mixed.
Lots of the above remarks depend on size of your database. For very small
databases, there are other solutions.
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