----------------------------Original message----------------------------
We're using Zip drives here at the Dallas Museum of Natural History for
a variety of internal (i.e., not public-access) cataloguing projects.
For the most part they work well, but they have three disadvantages: 1)
limited capacity; 2) removable media (less a problem in a restricted
environment); and 3) quirks.  The first two are obvious and there are
workarounds.  The quirk is more of a problem.  Since we don't use the
zips constantly, they get re-opened as data needs to be stored or
updated.  Occasionally (perhaps 5% of the time) the drive won't be
recognized and the reult is that the entire system hangs up and has to
be rebooted.  While this is a pain and I haven't been able to find a
simple fix (re-inserting the cartridge before accessing solves the
problem, but does reduce convenience), the volume of our work makes this
bearable. If you were serving GIS info in a public setting that might
not be the case.
 
Alex Barker
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