Sorry, but this is bu...it! My entire library has been ruined - several years of research!!!
With SSD capacities being significantly smaller than HDD capacities it has become common practice to store big data on network drives. Even open source software like KeePass can handle the implications of such a storage type without a problem.
Besides, Zotero cannot open any of the backup SQLite files in the data directory - neither ones created before the last sync nor ones created afterwards. BTW: SQLite Administrator can open the SQLite files easily. Why can Zotero not?
Let's take a step back. What's the actual problem you're experiencing? Why do you think your library is "ruined"?
There's nothing unique to Zotero here. First, Zotero is built on Firefox, so the exact same issues would apply if you stored your Firefox profile directory on a network drive. More importantly, SQLite specifically warns that network filesystems can cause database corruption, because they don't always follow standard filesystem locking behavior, so your indignation here is a bit unwarranted.
For Zotero in particular, if you have the network drive mounted on two separate computers, and you open Zotero on both, there's a good chance you'll corrupt your database. But just putting the data directory on a network drive on one computer can also result in odd problems. As we've said, it might work, but if it doesn't, moving your data directory back to the local drive is your best option.
But let's start by determining what exactly the problem is in your case.
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With SSD capacities being significantly smaller than HDD capacities it has become common practice to store big data on network drives. Even open source software like KeePass can handle the implications of such a storage type without a problem.
Besides, Zotero cannot open any of the backup SQLite files in the data directory - neither ones created before the last sync nor ones created afterwards.
BTW: SQLite Administrator can open the SQLite files easily. Why can Zotero not?
There's nothing unique to Zotero here. First, Zotero is built on Firefox, so the exact same issues would apply if you stored your Firefox profile directory on a network drive. More importantly, SQLite specifically warns that network filesystems can cause database corruption, because they don't always follow standard filesystem locking behavior, so your indignation here is a bit unwarranted.
For Zotero in particular, if you have the network drive mounted on two separate computers, and you open Zotero on both, there's a good chance you'll corrupt your database. But just putting the data directory on a network drive on one computer can also result in odd problems. As we've said, it might work, but if it doesn't, moving your data directory back to the local drive is your best option.
But let's start by determining what exactly the problem is in your case.