A two-machine FileMaker Server deployment separates the principal database services from part of the web publishing workload.
Historically, Claris called these computers the Master and Worker machines. Current versions use the terms Primary and Secondary.
The primary machine hosts the FileMaker databases. The secondary machine provides a web server and Web Publishing Engine, principally to handle FileMaker WebDirect sessions.
What runs on the primary machine?
The primary machine runs the FileMaker Database Server and remains the center of the deployment.
It is responsible for:
- Hosting FileMaker database files
- Managing records and record locks
- Authenticating users
- Serving FileMaker Pro and FileMaker Go
- Running the FileMaker Script Engine
- Managing schedules and backups
- Coordinating the deployment
- Communicating with secondary machines
The primary machine also includes its own web server and Web Publishing Engine.
What runs on a secondary machine?
A secondary FileMaker Server machine contains two principal components:
- A web server
- A Web Publishing Engine
It does not host an independent copy of the FileMaker databases.
The WPE on the secondary machine communicates with the Database Server on the primary machine to deliver FileMaker WebDirect sessions.
Custom Web Publishing requests received by a secondary machine can be proxied toward the primary machine, but the Custom Web Publishing services themselves remain on the primary.
Why use more than one machine?
The main objective is to increase FileMaker WebDirect capacity.
WebDirect requires substantial server resources because the server processes layouts, scripts, user interactions, and much of the application state. Moving some WebDirect sessions to secondary machines distributes that workload.
Claris indicates that a single machine can ordinarily support up to 100 WebDirect clients and that each secondary machine can add capacity for up to 100 more. Actual capacity still depends heavily on application design and workload.
A secondary machine can also be placed in front of a firewall, while the primary database machine remains on a more protected internal network.
More than two machines
Although this architecture is commonly called a two-machine deployment, current versions of FileMaker Server can use one primary machine and multiple secondary machines.
Claris currently supports up to five secondary machines in a deployment.
The historical Master/Worker terminology may therefore still appear in older documentation, articles, and server configurations, but Primary/Secondary better describes the current architecture.
Not a database cluster
A secondary machine is not a replica of the primary database server.
It does not provide:
- Database replication
- Automatic database failover
- A standby copy of the hosted files
- Load balancing for FileMaker Pro connections
- Additional FileMaker Script Engine capacity on another host
If the primary machine becomes unavailable, the secondary Web Publishing Engine cannot continue serving the databases independently.
A multiple-machine web deployment should therefore not be confused with FileMaker Server Standby Server or another disaster-recovery architecture.
When is it appropriate?
A multiple-machine deployment is mainly relevant for organizations with substantial WebDirect usage or specific network-separation requirements.
For many applications, optimizing layouts, scripts, portals, images, and found sets may produce greater benefits than immediately adding another machine.
The decision should be based on monitoring and realistic load testing rather than only on the theoretical number of users.
Two-machine deployments and fmcloud.fm
fmcloud.fm can help organizations evaluate whether a secondary WebDirect machine is genuinely required.
Our team can analyze WebDirect activity, application design, server resources, and expected concurrency. We can then recommend application optimization, additional server resources, or a multiple-machine architecture as appropriate.
Because we manage both FileMaker Server and the surrounding infrastructure, we can address networking, SSL certificates, firewalls, monitoring, and communication between primary and secondary machines as a single deployment.
