Thanks to Helen and others for answering my ODS question...

The next concern I have about FB as a solid solution for our project
is this:

"Our database will reside on a USB-attached disk with the server
running on the host system. Of course, end users will simply unplug
the drive without shutting us down first. What is likely to happen
(under Windows) to a FB database that is unplugged at unpredictable
(and probably the worst possible) times? Will the whole db be lost?
What are the recovery options? Anything I haven't considered?"

Nathan