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Rhino Records

FileMaker Pro is a Hit with Rhino Records

What do Ray Charles, Burt Bacharach, the Teenage Devil Dolls, and Merle Haggard have in common? Their recordings — and some 32,000 others — are stored in FileMaker Pro for Windows 98, Windows 95, Windows NT, Windows 3.1, and Mac OS, the award-winning database solution from FileMaker Inc. Ten months ago the Los Angeles-based Rhino Records chose FileMaker Pro for its main Web search engine, Rhino Master (www.rhinorecords.com) to replace an aging SQL-based solution. Rhino had been offered free Web hosting at a new location that included an Oracle and WebObjects license, but the company soon discovered that an Oracle solution would cost them anywhere from $35,000 to $200,000, based on estimates received from consultants.

Having used the Mac and FileMaker Pro for a long time, Rhino's Webmaster Ben Trask had a hunch FileMaker Pro could do the job. With an anticipated budget of $35,000, he enlisted the help of Christian Boyce and Diane Dzilvelis of Christian Boyce and Associates. Boyce and Associates developed the FileMaker Pro database and Trask built a Web interface using Blue World Communications' Lasso 3.0. The project was completed on time and under budget, with a final price tag of only $15,000.

Rhino's Web site now uses FileMaker Pro for all its database-related functionality, from the Web search engine to contests and online surveys. Three related files, the largest of which is almost 15MB, serve up more than 30,000 CD tracks located on some 2,500 CDs. The site receives between 150,000 to 250,000 hits per day and 100 to 150 database requests per minute. The FileMaker Pro system performs significantly faster than the old SQL-based solution.

Trask particularly appreciates the flexibility and ease of use that the FileMaker Pro system provides. 'I can't tell you how many times I've changed the solution,' he explains. 'Minor tweaks that would've required an Oracle WebObjects developer at $100 an hour to do, I can do from home at night.' Rhino's Web site is a key vehicle for promoting the Rhino brand — Julie Andrews to Frank Zappa — to the general public. FileMaker Pro makes it all happen.

Christian Boyce
Christian Boyce and Associates
310-452-3720
cdboyce@earthlink.net

Filemaker Contact:

Kevin Mallon
Public Relations Manager
FileMaker Inc.
408-987-7227
kevin_mallon@filemaker.com
http://www.filemaker.com

• What do Ray Charles, Burt Bacharach and Merle Haggard have in common? Their recordings — and some 32,000 others — are stored in Rhino Records' FileMaker Pro-based Web search engine (www.rhinorecords.com). Rhino traded its aging SQL-based solution for the FileMaker Pro solution which delivers significantly faster performance.

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