>
> Firebird and Interbase never could and can access a database that's on a
> network drive (as seen from the machine were the server is running).
> So does the embedded server.
>

Incorrect.

Quoting the firebird.conf from the embedded server zip file:
# ----------------------------
# Allow opening of data files on NFS volumes
#
# Allows for database files which exists on a NFS mounted partition to
# be opened by the engine.
#
# The original behavour was to try and connect to server on the remote
# machine via port 3050, this ensures that all opens of a file occur on
# the same machine and locking etc can be handled appropriately. However,
# this often causes frustration since often you end up in a position
# where you really do want db files to be opened by the local process
# even though it resides on a NFS share. So this option allows for this
# 'feature' to be turned off.
#
# Type: boolean
#
#RemoteFileOpenAbility = 0

You're confusing a "true local server" with a "local database file". The
ideal situation is to keep them one and the same, but it's technically
possible to change the behavior. True local access in this case just
refers to how the gds.dll connects to the server component.

--erik