High availability and disaster recovery for FileMaker Server

Expert

Design a FileMaker Server deployment that survives hardware failure, with fast recovery time and minimal data loss.

What you'll learn

The backup and replication strategies available for FileMaker Server
How to use a standby server for fast manual failover
Recovery time objectives and what is realistically achievable

FileMaker Server does not have native database clustering or automatic failover. High availability is achieved through a combination of backup strategy, monitoring, and documented recovery procedures that minimize downtime when hardware or software failures occur.

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Backup-based recovery (most common)

The standard approach: hourly backups with retention, backed up off-server to a NAS or cloud bucket (S3, Backblaze B2). On failure, provision a new server, restore the most recent backup, and update DNS. RTO (Recovery Time Objective) is typically 1–4 hours. RPO (Recovery Point Objective) is the backup interval — hourly backups mean up to 1 hour of data loss.

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# Example: sync backups to S3 via system script schedule
aws s3 sync \
  "/opt/FileMaker/FileMaker Server/Data/Backups/" \
  "s3://my-bucket/fms-backups/" \
  --delete

# Run this as a System Script schedule 15 minutes after each backup

Advanced Admin API: automating FileMaker Server deployments FileMaker Admin API for server management