China’s Two Great Walls (One Virtual)

AWS and WebDirect for Chinese customers:  It doesn’t work.

I just learned this late last night.  I have a client who manufactures parts in China and ships to the US.  When we tried out the China vendor part of the database using FileMaker WebDirect this past week we were in for a surprise:  WebDirect does not work in China when hosted on an AWS server not in China.  User Accounts that work fine in the States cannot login to WebDirect in China.

It seems China forced Amazon to sell off physical assets and go into business with two Chinese firms:

The service operator and provider for AWS China (Beijing) Region based out of Beijing and adjacent areas is Beijing Sinnet Technology Co., Ltd. (Sinnet), and the service operator and provider for AWS (Ningxia) Region based out of Ningxia is Ningxia Western Cloud Data Technology Co., Ltd. (NWCD).

I’m not sure how that affects my client just yet.  The problem is severe and we are looking into options.  Using VPN technology to do an end run is evidently possible but not allowed…China controls content flowing into it’s internet with a pretty tight fist.  Amazon encourages clients to comply with their rules, which makes it hard for my client.

If anyone out there knows a way to make this work, please let me know.


FileMaker Relational Design Video (Beginners to Intermediate)

Jeremy Hammond on the basics of FileMaker Relational Design at a recent user group meeting.  Worth your time if you are having trouble with it:


360Works updates their plugins

Server compatibility is the biggest topic in this upgrade.  If you are running any of their plugins, get the updated versions installed.


Space isn’t remote at all. It’s only an hour’s drive away if your car could go straight upwards.

Fred Hoyle

Liked Liked
Need FileMaker Development Help? Or to purchase FileMaker Software?
Contact FM Pro Gurus for help