Upgrade StorageLooking for feedback: Locally replicated master library file from a network share
Hello,
I imagine "network share" in this post title will trigger many understandable warnings about why storing a library file on a networked drive is a bad idea. I have read many such warnings on this forum and I'm familiar with SQLite file locking behavior. However, I'm wondering about an unconventional setup that I have not seen discussed or mentioned elsewhere that I believe will be relatively safe from corruption (please forward any relevant discussions or links that suggest otherwise), and I'm wondering if anyone has tried this setup or has input about whether it might work.
Here's the situation: the organization I work for has a policy that prohibits us from using Zotero's syncing service, so our workgroup needs another option to maintain a shared library. To avoid the typical pitfalls and corruption of a library file stored on a networked drive, I am considering the following setup: a library manager maintains a master copy of the library file on a local drive (and that's backed up elsewhere) that Zotero reads and writes to. As necessary, the library manager copies the library file to a networked drive to keep it updated. The directory that file is stored in is only writeable by an admin user group (of which the library manager is a member), but the network copy of the library file is never (intentionally) opened within Zotero. All users who need to read the library have a script stored in their startup directory that will run when they log onto their computer. This script will copy the library file to their local drive, keeping it synced with the network copy of the master. To avoid copying large amounts of attachment data, it would probably be best to use linked files for attachments (https://www.zotero.org/support/attaching_files#stored_files_and_linked_files), which are also stored on the network share. I also recognize a significant limitation is that only the library manager can make changes to the library and any changes other user's make to their own local copy will be overwritten by the script. Also note that our network drives receive nightly backups, so in the (hopefully infrequent) event of a corrupted network library file, the file could be restored from a backup or the library manager's local master.
Does anyone have any feedback on this potential setup or experience trying something like it? Am I fooling myself to think this could work? It's potentially a lot of effort to set it up just to test out, so I'd rather not go down this rabbit hole too far before figuring out that it's a dead end.
Thanks!
I imagine "network share" in this post title will trigger many understandable warnings about why storing a library file on a networked drive is a bad idea. I have read many such warnings on this forum and I'm familiar with SQLite file locking behavior. However, I'm wondering about an unconventional setup that I have not seen discussed or mentioned elsewhere that I believe will be relatively safe from corruption (please forward any relevant discussions or links that suggest otherwise), and I'm wondering if anyone has tried this setup or has input about whether it might work.
Here's the situation: the organization I work for has a policy that prohibits us from using Zotero's syncing service, so our workgroup needs another option to maintain a shared library. To avoid the typical pitfalls and corruption of a library file stored on a networked drive, I am considering the following setup: a library manager maintains a master copy of the library file on a local drive (and that's backed up elsewhere) that Zotero reads and writes to. As necessary, the library manager copies the library file to a networked drive to keep it updated. The directory that file is stored in is only writeable by an admin user group (of which the library manager is a member), but the network copy of the library file is never (intentionally) opened within Zotero. All users who need to read the library have a script stored in their startup directory that will run when they log onto their computer. This script will copy the library file to their local drive, keeping it synced with the network copy of the master. To avoid copying large amounts of attachment data, it would probably be best to use linked files for attachments (https://www.zotero.org/support/attaching_files#stored_files_and_linked_files), which are also stored on the network share. I also recognize a significant limitation is that only the library manager can make changes to the library and any changes other user's make to their own local copy will be overwritten by the script. Also note that our network drives receive nightly backups, so in the (hopefully infrequent) event of a corrupted network library file, the file could be restored from a backup or the library manager's local master.
Does anyone have any feedback on this potential setup or experience trying something like it? Am I fooling myself to think this could work? It's potentially a lot of effort to set it up just to test out, so I'd rather not go down this rabbit hole too far before figuring out that it's a dead end.
Thanks!
-
dstillmanThere's no particular technical problem with that, as long as no one is using the network copy directly and the download script always runs before Zotero starts — if the SQLite database is in the right place at Zotero startup, Zotero will read it. But it sounds pretty tedious to have one person manually update the network copy, and it seems potentially frustrating for users that any changes they're inclined to make will be wiped out…