# Does FDS 19 include concurrent connections? **URL:** \ **Category:** Licensing\ **Tags:** community\ **Created:** [January 9, 2021, 6:12pm UTC](https://the.fmsoup.org/t/does-fds-19-include-concurrent-connections/1589 "2021-01-09T18:12:30Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![jormond](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/35a633/32.png) [@jormond](https://the.fmsoup.org/u/jormond)\ **Post date:** [January 10, 2021, 10:01pm UTC](https://the.fmsoup.org/t/does-fds-19-include-concurrent-connections/1589/21 "2021-01-10T22:01:30Z")
You get 3 simultaneous WebDirect Custom Web Publishing connections, and 3 user licenses. - 3 connections at once for WebDirect is the definition of concurrent connections. - 3 user licenses is 3 people testing. When your license for a person testing ends, you can reassign it to someone else. You internally need to track that. What is the piece that is causing the confusion, so we can get it cleared up? ---
**Author:** ![xochi](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/x/0ea827/32.png) [@xochi](https://the.fmsoup.org/u/xochi)\ **Post date:** [January 10, 2021, 10:55pm UTC](https://the.fmsoup.org/t/does-fds-19-include-concurrent-connections/1589/22 "2021-01-10T22:55:31Z")
> [@jormond](#): > > 3 connections at once for WebDirect is the definition of concurrent connections. No, that is for CWP, not for WebDirect. It specifically it says **user license** connections for WebDirect: > [@](#): > > The FileMaker 19 Developer Subscription License allows up to three (3) licenses of Claris FileMaker Server ("FileMaker Server"), three (3) simultaneous web-based client connections for Custom Web Publishing, and **three (3) user licenses to access [...] WebDirect.** Hence, the confusion. There's also a side question of how this is implemented for anonymous [Guest] WebDirect connections (which fmpdude may not care about, but I do) 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![jormond](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/35a633/32.png) [@jormond](https://the.fmsoup.org/u/jormond)\ **Post date:** [January 10, 2021, 11:27pm UTC](https://the.fmsoup.org/t/does-fds-19-include-concurrent-connections/1589/23 "2021-01-10T23:27:33Z")
My apologizes. I typed that wrong while I was working on something else. I am sorry for adding to the confusion. 3 connections to the server for testing is what we get. There is no need to think beyond that. Don't have more than 3 connections to the server, and you are in the spirit of the license. It allows you to test a multi-user functionality. This is what we went through with them when they first made the change to include a test-only license of FMPA also. There is a FAQ around somewhere. ---
**Author:** ![anon45965781](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/13edae/32.png) [@anon45965781](https://the.fmsoup.org/u/anon45965781)\ **Post date:** [January 11, 2021, 1:31am UTC](https://the.fmsoup.org/t/does-fds-19-include-concurrent-connections/1589/24 "2021-01-11T01:31:11Z")
Yes the anonymous concurrent connections is the point of my posting since they’re no longer explicitly specified. Thanks @xochi. We have the same apparent question. ✔ ---
**Author:** ![Cecile](https://yyz2.discourse-cdn.com/flex030/user_avatar/the.fmsoup.org/cecile/32/98_2.png) [@Cecile](https://the.fmsoup.org/u/Cecile)\ **Post date:** [January 11, 2021, 3:25am UTC](https://the.fmsoup.org/t/does-fds-19-include-concurrent-connections/1589/25 "2021-01-11T03:25:49Z")
I was under the impression that anonymous connections in Webdirect are not counted. They are not reflected in fms connection logs afaik. ---
**Author:** ![villegld](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/v/f1d935/32.png) [@villegld](https://the.fmsoup.org/u/villegld)\ **Post date:** [January 11, 2021, 8:55am UTC](https://the.fmsoup.org/t/does-fds-19-include-concurrent-connections/1589/26 "2021-01-11T08:55:12Z")
License model is simple: User license is meant for organizations to have their internal people to access FM. You buy as many as you have people using FM. Problem with license model is that it is very limited in a way that FileMaker could be used. But current licensing is matching for other nocode/lowcode platforms like App sheet and MS Power apps. They are all only for intraorganizational use. ---
**Author:** ![jormond](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/35a633/32.png) [@jormond](https://the.fmsoup.org/u/jormond)\ **Post date:** [January 11, 2021, 2:29pm UTC](https://the.fmsoup.org/t/does-fds-19-include-concurrent-connections/1589/27 "2021-01-11T14:29:30Z")
This is for FDS. So the intention is not the same. There are no real "named users" for testing. ---
**Author:** ![AndyHibbs](https://yyz2.discourse-cdn.com/flex030/user_avatar/the.fmsoup.org/andyhibbs/32/3089_2.png) [@AndyHibbs](https://the.fmsoup.org/u/AndyHibbs)\ **Post date:** [January 11, 2021, 3:27pm UTC](https://the.fmsoup.org/t/does-fds-19-include-concurrent-connections/1589/28 "2021-01-11T15:27:15Z")
I think this would be worth clarifying Josh, as the EULA linked within the FDS software link is the standard one that does refer to ‘the organisation’ and people who work within it. I suspect there is no problem, but the legalese doesn’t reflect this. Kind regards Andy ---
**Author:** ![xochi](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/x/0ea827/32.png) [@xochi](https://the.fmsoup.org/u/xochi)\ **Post date:** [January 11, 2021, 3:49pm UTC](https://the.fmsoup.org/t/does-fds-19-include-concurrent-connections/1589/29 "2021-01-11T15:49:58Z")
> [@Cecile](#): > > I was under the impression that anonymous connections in Webdirect are not counted. They are not reflected in fms connection logs afaik. Under the _concurrent_ license scheme, anonymous WebDirect connections defintiely are counted, and I can confirm that there's a hard limit. If you have N concurrent licenses, the N+1th connection to WebDirect will fail. Reading around on the claris forums: 1. there is also apparently a "site" license scheme as well, giving us 4 license options: - users - concurrent - site - developer 1. The rules may be different for Cloud vs. self hosted - (I've seen some posting saying that there may be issues with anonymous guest users and/or automatic login options on the cloud). 2. A further issue - there may be _technical_ restrictions which are not the same as the _license_ restrictions. I'll see about spinning up a FMS19 today and do some testing... ---
**Author:** ![jormond](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/35a633/32.png) [@jormond](https://the.fmsoup.org/u/jormond)\ **Post date:** [January 11, 2021, 3:56pm UTC](https://the.fmsoup.org/t/does-fds-19-include-concurrent-connections/1589/30 "2021-01-11T15:56:04Z")
The FDS license is slightly different than the normal EULA. However, applying how it works is much simpler than most people make it. 3 user licenses = 3 people internally, software if installed must be on internal company owned devices. 1 person connecting with Pro, Go AND WebDirect is still one user/person. 1 license used. If you needed external users, you would need licenses for that. You have to internally manage those licenses. If you have one client connecting with their own licensed Pro software, or they are using WebDirect/Go... they would count as a user while they are testing. But this has to be testing, not demoing. Am I using less than 3 people connecting at the same time? Am I truly testing? If the answer to these questions is yes, you are in compliance. When some stops testing, you "remove" them as a named user. They don't access the software again until you need them to test again. That is the spirit of this license. I agree it's a bit weird at times, but we need to be careful not to over-complicate this. ---
**Author:** ![AndyHibbs](https://yyz2.discourse-cdn.com/flex030/user_avatar/the.fmsoup.org/andyhibbs/32/3089_2.png) [@AndyHibbs](https://the.fmsoup.org/u/AndyHibbs)\ **Post date:** [January 11, 2021, 3:59pm UTC](https://the.fmsoup.org/t/does-fds-19-include-concurrent-connections/1589/31 "2021-01-11T15:59:35Z")
I agree with everything you’ve written there as far as the printed license is concerned. However, I don’t believe it answers the original question. ---
**Author:** ![jormond](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/35a633/32.png) [@jormond](https://the.fmsoup.org/u/jormond)\ **Post date:** [January 11, 2021, 4:02pm UTC](https://the.fmsoup.org/t/does-fds-19-include-concurrent-connections/1589/32 "2021-01-11T16:02:22Z")
> [@xochi](#): > > Under the _concurrent_ license scheme, anonymous WebDirect connections defintiely are counted, and I can confirm that there's a hard limit. If you have N concurrent licenses, the N+1th connection to WebDirect will fail. > > Reading around on the claris forums: > > 1. there is also apparently a "site" license scheme as well, giving us 4 license options: > > - users > - concurrent > - site > - developer > > 1. The rules may be different for Cloud vs. self hosted - (I've seen some posting saying that there may be issues with anonymous guest users and/or automatic login options on the cloud). > 2. A further issue - there may be _technical_ restrictions which are not the same as the _license_ restrictions. Annual User, Perpetual User, Concurrent Connections, Site license. Those are the options as of now. Ask if you have questions. We can do our best to talk you through it. - Annual licenses are 1/3rd the initial perpetual price ( full price ). - Perpetual licenses offer maintenance after the first year. Maintenance is 1/5 the initial perpetual price ( full price ). Around year 6, this has a lower cost of ownership than annual licensing. - Site license - everyone in you organization gets a license. Min 25 licenses. At around 12-14 users, this is often the cheapest option. Especially if you go perpetual with maintenance. The initial cost is high, but the maintenance is really low after that. Cloud is definitely a little different. You have to be licensed on every server you connect to. As far as I know, only Concurrent servers currently have a hard technical restriction based on the number of connections purchased. ---
**Author:** ![jormond](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/35a633/32.png) [@jormond](https://the.fmsoup.org/u/jormond)\ **Post date:** [January 11, 2021, 4:03pm UTC](https://the.fmsoup.org/t/does-fds-19-include-concurrent-connections/1589/33 "2021-01-11T16:03:27Z")
The answer to the original question is no, it does NOT include concurrent connections in Claris' definition of the license. In practice, because of the nature of testing...kind of. ---
**Author:** ![anon45965781](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/13edae/32.png) [@anon45965781](https://the.fmsoup.org/u/anon45965781)\ **Post date:** [January 11, 2021, 4:09pm UTC](https://the.fmsoup.org/t/does-fds-19-include-concurrent-connections/1589/34 "2021-01-11T16:09:59Z")
The EULA for FDS used to support at least one concurrent connection so you could have a client use their browser to test stuff on your FDS. FMI sales told me this was expected testing behavior. Does that concurrent connection still exist in FDS 19? I did not see it mentioned in the current EULA and Steve K. (FMI Support) still hasn't replied in six days. Thanks, ---
**Author:** ![AndyHibbs](https://yyz2.discourse-cdn.com/flex030/user_avatar/the.fmsoup.org/andyhibbs/32/3089_2.png) [@AndyHibbs](https://the.fmsoup.org/u/AndyHibbs)\ **Post date:** [January 11, 2021, 4:10pm UTC](https://the.fmsoup.org/t/does-fds-19-include-concurrent-connections/1589/35 "2021-01-11T16:10:06Z")
> [@jormond](#): > > Site license - everyone in you organization gets a license. Min 25 licenses. At around 12-14 users, this is often the cheapest option. Especially if you go perpetual with maintenance. The initial cost is high, but the maintenance is really low after that. Just to emphasise, ‘everyone’ in the organisation has to have a license, whether they are FileMaker users or not. ---
**Author:** ![jormond](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/35a633/32.png) [@jormond](https://the.fmsoup.org/u/jormond)\ **Post date:** [January 11, 2021, 4:11pm UTC](https://the.fmsoup.org/t/does-fds-19-include-concurrent-connections/1589/36 "2021-01-11T16:11:43Z")
No. They are "User" licenses. Make your client a "user" for the time they are testing. ---
**Author:** ![villegld](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/v/f1d935/32.png) [@villegld](https://the.fmsoup.org/u/villegld)\ **Post date:** [January 11, 2021, 4:18pm UTC](https://the.fmsoup.org/t/does-fds-19-include-concurrent-connections/1589/37 "2021-01-11T16:18:49Z")
I would say this is the correct answer by @jormond . FDS license terms does not say anything about organization like the "real" licenses. FDS can be bought by individual as well. And FMS in FDS is for development and testing. I'm using FDS FMS everyday for development even if I have also "real" licenses. But FM Pro I'm using is the real license not FDS version. ---
**Author:** ![jormond](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/35a633/32.png) [@jormond](https://the.fmsoup.org/u/jormond)\ **Post date:** [January 11, 2021, 4:20pm UTC](https://the.fmsoup.org/t/does-fds-19-include-concurrent-connections/1589/38 "2021-01-11T16:20:49Z")
I am using this same setup. I'll only use the FDS FileMaker Pro install if I need to add additional devices to test multi-user functionality and user-collisions. ---
**Author:** ![villegld](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/v/f1d935/32.png) [@villegld](https://the.fmsoup.org/u/villegld)\ **Post date:** [January 11, 2021, 4:30pm UTC](https://the.fmsoup.org/t/does-fds-19-include-concurrent-connections/1589/39 "2021-01-11T16:30:31Z")
If I would be a single developer who develop solutions for customer I would get individual FM Pro 19 license and FDS to get dev server license. That would allow full set of software to develop anything FM related solutions. Working without development server is quite hard if end solution is served in FMS. ---
**Author:** ![xochi](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/x/0ea827/32.png) [@xochi](https://the.fmsoup.org/u/xochi)\ **Post date:** [January 11, 2021, 4:50pm UTC](https://the.fmsoup.org/t/does-fds-19-include-concurrent-connections/1589/40 "2021-01-11T16:50:20Z")
Test data: First, I installed the latest FMS19. For fun, I installed it on an Apple Silicon machine - i was surprised that it worked w/o problem! ![image](https://canada1.discourse-cdn.com/flex030/uploads/fmsoup/original/2X/5/525eb9d0e58e9ef3f0f93f25939cb917271565e3.jpeg) It's using the 3 person developer license: ![image](https://canada1.discourse-cdn.com/flex030/uploads/fmsoup/original/2X/2/246f3b1d14ff645d897c78e4a5b68ccc6e2b7a38.jpeg) And then I created a WebDirect database with an auto-guest login, and tried to connect from as many machines as I could. I got up to 7 connections across 6 different machines without problem: ![image](https://canada1.discourse-cdn.com/flex030/uploads/fmsoup/original/2X/4/44de8b6a3487d48cbf677f1e7852b41d79665000.jpeg) I see no errors in the logs. Event.log shows the following: ``` 2021-01-11 08:16:27.799 -0800 Information 1155 xxx.local FileMaker Data API annual limit: 72 GB; annual renewal date: 05-07-2018 04:00:00.177 PM 2021-01-11 08:16:27.801 -0800 Information 1062 xxx.local Maximum number of FileMaker users permitted by this FileMaker Server license: 3 2021-01-11 08:16:27.802 -0800 Information 1063 xxx.local Maximum number of FileMaker concurrent connections permitted by this FileMaker Server license: 0 2021-01-11 08:16:27.804 -0800 Information 74 xxx.local Maximum number of files to host: 125 2021-01-11 08:16:27.804 -0800 Information 936 xxx.local Maximum number of Perform Script on Server sessions to run simultaneously: 100 2021-01-11 08:16:39.271 -0800 Information 1155 xxx.local FileMaker Data API annual limit: 72 GB; annual renewal date: 05-07-2018 04:00:00.177 PM ``` Conclusion: it's not clear to me what the _license policy_ is, but the _technical limitations_ seem to allow more than 3 concurrent WebDirect Guest connections for testing... [Previous page](https://the.fmsoup.org/t/does-fds-19-include-concurrent-connections/1589.md?page=1) [Next page](https://the.fmsoup.org/t/does-fds-19-include-concurrent-connections/1589.md?page=3)