--- In ib-support@y..., "jhayesmedware" <jhayesmedware@y...> wrote:

> Some questions:
> 1. Is there a solid ODBC driver available? Cost?

Jerry, I recommend Gemini one. Look at
http://www.geocities.com/ibdatabase/

> 2. I'm concerned about "backup and restore" as standard procedure.
> How often will this need to be done?

Backup is your insurance policy. Database can be fine for years
and became corrupted when you have'nt copy. Note you should'nt stop
users activity doing backup but it's highly recommended to check
result making restore somewhere aside, some types of corruptions shows
itself only on restore. About replacing database by fresh copy -
difficult to answer. Dependent on data changing transactions activity.
I know databases which was not restored for years but typically
refresh improve performance.

> 3. Assuming proper DB design, what other issues will affect our

24x7

> operation.

Except long-live transactions near to nothing. And read only read
commited have'nt this effect, they are started in commited state.
Perhaps some performance degradation due to indexes disbalance
accumulation.

> My biggest concern is much less resources (books, articles, etc.)

Look at www.ibphoenix.com and www.firebirdsql.com . IB6 beta docs
are good start point too but it have some innacurates and don't
contain some Firebird features. Don't forget take a look at FB1
Release Notes to fit known bugs to your programming style and needs,
it can be found at

http://firebird.sourceforge.net/index.php?op=files&id=fb10

Best regards, Alexander V.Nevsky.