Can I use Firebird database directly from a USB flash disk?


Yes, you can.

Few important tips:

a) Use forced writes. The filesystem cache for USB devices has much higher latency than regular hard disk, so it's quite easy to lose a lot of work in case of power failure.

b) Make sure that your users are aware of consequences of unplugining it while your application is still running.

c) Please note that USB disks are projected with around one milion erase/write cycles. When forced writes are ON, each statement and transaction gets written to the disk, so your users can easily spend around 100 to 1000 rewrites a day - meaning that average USB disk would only last a few years using your application.

d) It is recommended that you maintain a copy of database on the hard disk if possible, or at least force users to do regular backups - the old rule of backup is: backup as much data as you can't afford to lose.

The best practice is to copy the database on the hard disk - work with it - and then write it back to USB disk.


Do you find this FAQ incorrect or incomplete? Please e-mail us what needs to be changed. To ensure quality, each change is checked by our editors (and often tested on live Firebird databases), before it enters the main FAQ database. If you desire so, the changes will be credited to your name. To learn more, visit our add content page.



All contents are copyright © 2007-2024 FirebirdFAQ.org unless otherwise stated in the text.


Links   Firebird   News   FlameRobin   Powered by FB: Home Inventory   Euchre  
Add content   About  

Categories
 Newbies
 SQL
 Installation and setup
 Backup and restore
 Performance
 Security
 Connectivity and API
 HOWTOs
 Errors and error codes
 Miscellaneous