> 1) How to install an "invisible" Firebird instance together with an
> application (or server application), avoiding as much as possible to
> step onto other InterBase/Firebird installations' feet, to server as
> well as client machines.

As Adam already said: don't do a silent install on a server machine.

> 2)How to perform a network installation of a firebird app ie the
> setup will run on the server and all client machines that need access
> will be listed , from which a required clients will be selected .

My applications have a .ini file which gives them the database string
to use. I have installed them on a network share so every machine in
the network can run the client app. The client app directory also
contains the fbclient.dll needed for client access.

You can get more info on minimum client installs here:
http://www.destructor.de/firebird/1.5/minimumclient.htm

> 3)How to dynamically backup and restore firebird Db

Use GBAK. More info here:
http://www.destructor.de/firebird/gbak.htm

> 4)How to dynamically shut down server for backups and restore.I have
> heard that FB can be backedup and restored without shutting down .
> Will this lead to any DB Corruptions.

No. GBAK is meant to work when the database is running. It will create
a consistent snapshot at the time it starts to run. It can degrade
overall performance of the database while it is running, so it is a
good idea to run it at night.

> 5)how to set up an isolated Firebird environment:
> decide on a TCP port, or finding a free one at installation time.

The default port is 3050. You can take a look at the services file to
look for other installations. But you can also just select any port
and see if Firebird can bind the port successfully.

> how to make Firebird locate its home directory.

A fully registered Firebird puts its Firebird root directory name in
the Windows registry key
"HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Firebird Project\Firebird Server\Instances"
to the string "DefaultInstance".

On Unix/Linux you can read the "firebird" environment variable.

> Installing Firebird as an application (and not as a service);
> starting and stopping it from the application server that "embeds
> it".

1) Take a look at "Embedded Firebird" (see the download archives)
2) You can start Firebird as an application by calling
fbserver -a
or
fbserver -a -p <port>
e.g.
fbserver -a -p 3051

> 6)How to centralize every aspect of the client connection
> (credentials, list of databases and connection strings are all
> provided by the application server).

You probably mean what I mean with "minimum client install" above?

> 8)The main thing : How to deploy Firebird on Windows in a way that
> doesn't conflict with existing installations of Firebird and
> InterBase.

There has been a question "Multiple Servers on one machine" just a few
days ago here in this list. You can search the archives for my answer
on that one (the member who asked the question seemed to succeed with
my answer, so you should, too ;-)


Best Regards

Stefan


--
Stefan Heymann
www.destructor.de/firebird