nathan_probst wrote:

>"Our database will reside on a USB-attached disk with the server
>running on the host system.
>

Fine. It answers my previous question on the first thread. That said, there
are two issues you probably have not considered yet:

1. bandwidth. Using USB 1 performance will be acceptable only on very
small databases. I will not risk betting on the maximum practical size.
USB 2 may provide acceptable performance, but I believe it's better
make tests before going ahead. Why am I worried? Because Firebird is
notoriously bad on caching databases. It uses disk (read: USB bandwidth)
intensively even when you have tons of RAM.

2. endurance. Most NAND flash used in USB disks have an endurance of
1,000,000 erase cycle. Looks a lot but, depending on the application
it's not.
Databases are not designed with that limitation in mind and certainly
endurance can be a real problem for you. For more details, check Wikipedia:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Flash_memory

>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?"
>
>
>

I believe configuring your database for "Forced Writes" can minimize the
risks when using Windows, but you will never be completely sure.

>Nathan
>
>

Ivan