Projects with files inside and outside the vault

[tmchenry]

I haven't been able to find anything about this specific issue in the archives.

We have a complicated arrangement where three sites share CAD files using a mirroring system.  Site A has mirrored copies of the CAD files from sites B and C, while site B has mirrors from A and C, and site C has mirrors from A and B.  The mirrors are read-only and updated nightly.  We are making the transition to a cloud-based vault, but the transition period will last at least a year, probably more.  So we need to be able to work on projects in the vault that refer to parts and assemblies outside the vault.  The method we are experimenting with works as follows.

* Each site maps its own CAD files plus the mirrored copies of the other sites files to the same set of drive letters.  Site A files are mapped to drive X, site B files are mapped to drive Y, and site C files are mapped to drive Z.  These mappings are the same at all three sites, except that only one set of files at each site is the original for that site, whereas the other two are mirrors.  (I hope that explanation is clear!)

* In the vault there is one project file that is used by everyone.  That way, the path to any given file in any given assembly is the same, no matter which site it is being edited from.

We have tried two versions of the project file.  In one version the drives X, Y, and Z are linked as Workgroup Search Paths.  In the other version they are linked as Libraries.  Both seem to work, so far as we have been able to test them.  My question is, which is the better choice?

We do not want to be able to edit the files outside the vault when using the vault project file.  In fact, it's better if we can't edit them.  In that sense, the Library-type mapping seems to make the most sense, since the files from outside the vault will automatically be treated as read-only.  But are there other advantages or disadvantages that I'm not seeing?

Incidentally, our cloud-based vault is actually an EPDM vault, not an Autodesk Vault.  But, for the purposes of this issue, I don't think that makes a difference.