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kb:data_directory_in_cloud_storage_folder [2020/06/15 18:22] – dstillman | kb:data_directory_in_cloud_storage_folder [2021/06/23 16:24] – dstillman | ||
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Storing your [[: | Storing your [[: | ||
- | Database-backed programs like Zotero rely on file locking to ensure file integrity, but cloud storage systems generally don't honor such locks. If you wake up your computer with Zotero running, and then Dropbox pulls down a change from another synced computer and updates part of the database file, Zotero will be unaware of the change and will corrupt the database when it next writes to the file. (Even if a cloud storage tool did honor file locks, you would simply end up with two conflicted copies that were impossible to merge, and those conflicted copies would quickly proliferate in the Zotero data directory.) | + | Database-backed programs like Zotero rely on file locking to ensure file integrity, but cloud storage systems generally don't honor such locks. If you wake up your computer with Zotero running, and then Dropbox pulls down a change from another synced computer and updates part of the database file, Zotero will be unaware of the change and will corrupt the database when it next writes to the file. Even if a cloud storage tool did honor file locks, you would simply end up with two conflicted copies that were impossible to merge, and those conflicted copies would quickly proliferate in the Zotero data directory. |
- | You might think this won't happen to you. You are almost certain to be wrong. The Zotero Forums contain countless reports over many years of database corruption resulting from the use of cloud storage folders. Sometimes people are able to restore from a backup or recover by using the [[/ | + | You might think this won't happen to you. Many people thought that once. The Zotero Forums contain countless reports over many years of database corruption resulting from the use of cloud storage folders. Sometimes people are able to restore from a backup or recover by using the [[/ |
The safe way to access Zotero data across multiple computers is to keep your data directory in the default location and use [[: | The safe way to access Zotero data across multiple computers is to keep your data directory in the default location and use [[: | ||
- | (Technically, | + | (Technically, |