External Hard Drives for "live" working

[Doomrider74]

To date, I've been using Lacie Rugged HD and they've been really reliable: However, they're pretty slow to work off (I run my Lightroom catalogue from them, as well as use them for storage). It's not down to them being full, either, as my current one is a 2TB version and has 1.77TB available. What external hard drive do you recommend to use with a MacBook Pro (2022 16", 1TB)?

 

[NorthernFocus]

I run a Windows machine, not Mac. But in my experience the only way to get really fast is to have both the catalogue and photos on the internal HD. At a minimum the catalog needs to be on the internal drive. Not realistic with a large catalog for image files to be on the internal drive so I build and import catalog to ingest/cull images and run them through DxO PL for noise reduction as needed. After the bulk work is done I will do an "import from catalog" to my master catalog(which resides on the internal drive) and copy the image files to an external drive. From that point on when doing detailed work on individual images any lag experienced due to the external drive is no longer an issue because there is no bulk data transfer to/from the drive. Once the catalog and supporting data files are built and when working one image at a time there is very little lag with images on external drive and catalog on the internal drive.

FYI a few years ago I did a good bit of research on external drives and found that the reliability(i.e. mean time to failure) of Lacie drives is no better than any of the major manufacturers. Certainly they have a more durable enclosure but the reliability of the drive itself is no better than others. So unless you subject your drive to extreme environmental conditions the premium paid for Lacie doesn't really buy you anything.

 

[Doomrider74]

I run a Windows machine, not Mac. But in my experience the only way to get really fast is to have both the catalogue and photos on the internal HD. At a minimum the catalog needs to be on the internal drive. Not realistic with a large catalog for image files to be on the internal drive so I build and import catalog to ingest/cull images and run them through DxO PL for noise reduction as needed. After the bulk work is done I will do an "import from catalog" to my master catalog(which resides on the internal drive) and copy the image files to an external drive. From that point on when doing detailed work on individual images any lag experienced due to the external drive is no longer an issue because there is no bulk data transfer to/from the drive. Once the catalog and supporting data files are built and when working one image at a time there is very little lag with images on external drive and catalog on the internal drive.

FYI a few years ago I did a good bit of research on external drives and found that the reliability(i.e. mean time to failure) of Lacie drives is no better than any of the major manufacturers. Certainly they have a more durable enclosure but the reliability of the drive itself is no better than others. So unless you subject your drive to extreme environmental conditions the premium paid for Lacie doesn't really buy you anything.

Thanks. I didn't mean to imply that Lacie drives have a lower failure rate than other types, just that I've found them to be reliable in isolation.

 

[M R Opp]

I use 2 TB Samsung T7 SSD drives. They are USB, extremely fast, and because they are SSD, they are virtually indestructible and not as susceptible to failure as spinning discs. They draw little power from the USB bus. I buy different colors to easily distinguish what they are used for...LR Catalog on one, backups on another, and archive on a third. Because they are so small, they can fit in any pocket and weigh next to nothing. Highly recommended.

 

[John Navitsky]

when looking at external hard drives i’d try to get one that can sustain 1000MB/s which also implies a 10Gb USB (or thunderbolt)

 

[SandyW]

A fast connection between the external HD and your computer is also important. Not all USB ports, cables, whatever are created equal!

 

[ingweDave]

I use a Western Digital "MyBook Duo" as my main storage. 16TB, set as redundancy 8 + 8. I back up to Samsung 2TB T7s and also use them when travelling

 

[Viathelens]

I used up until recently the same type of drive you do. Then, I bought a Lacie SSD, it's tiny, 2T, smaller than a cigarette box and I was amazed at the difference in speed. I use it on my MacBook Air when I travel. I realized after that it was not my laptop that was slow, it was my external drive so it stopped me from buying a new laptop.

You can only see EXIF info for this image if you are logged in.

 

[John Navitsky]

yah, the new drives are moving away from the old sata drives to the m.2 nvme drives. nvme is MUCH faster than sata and tends to be faster than the USB or Thunderbolt you use to connect it. and yah, smaller

 

[Viathelens]

yah, the new drives are moving away from the old sata drives to the m.2 nvme drives. nvme is MUCH faster than sata and tends to be faster than the USB or Thunderbolt you use to connect it. and yah, smaller

When I opened the box with the new drive in it I thought I got that wrong thing! Ha! Ha! It was so tiny I thought, "how could this hold 2T of data." But it does and the speed is lightening fast. I have to think now how to redesign my external drives on the desktop to get the same speed. It's only money...

 

[BarkingBeans Coffee]

I just posted this in another thread. I use an OWC Thunderbolt 3 enclosure with a Samsung NVMe 970. The 970 may be overkill as the enclosure max is 1500mb/s. I get about 1425. I have two of them. Cost was about $79 for the enclosure and $150 for the NVMe drive. I see this now down to $99. I see the enclosure is now 89. So for $190 you get a super fast external drive.

They are small but a bit warm when running. This is a great way to go for external drives.

I have been looking for enclosures that go faster but haven’t found any yet.

These drives are twice as fast as my Samsung T7’s and with LR or PS I am not seeing a difference in using the internal drive.

 

[John Navitsky]

I just posted this in another thread. I use an OWC Thunderbolt 3 enclosure with a Samsung NVMe 970. The 970 may be overkill as the enclosure max is 1500mb/s.

yah, pretty much any m.2 nvme drive is going to exceed usb or thunderbolt speeds, so unless you're installing the m.2 drive directly into your computer, you might as well prioritize capacity over performance

 

[John Navitsky]

OWC Thunderbolt 3 enclosure with a Samsung NVMe 970. [..] I get about 1425.

I have been looking for enclosures that go faster but haven’t found any yet.

It's certainly possible to go faster with Thunderbolt, but maybe not a LOT faster. I've measured out the OWC Envoy Pro FX which is a pre-built drive at 2113.70MB/s. So that's possible at least. But it's only about 500MB/s faster than what you are seeing.

Also note that raw NVMe drive speed does not translate directly to what you'll see via USB or Thunderbolt. I think that the common controllers probably don't take full advantage of all the features that make these cards faster in a native NVMe setting.

For exmaple I tested a Samsung 980 Pro NVMe in Gen3 slot and see 4921.14MB/s. You'd think this card would max out any USB or Thunderbolt connection, but that isn't necessarily the case. Likewise, Gen4 NVMe cards are slower in PCI 3 slots. This is all to say, when we're operating on USB or Thunderbolt we have to moderate our expectations a bit with regards to performance.

The upside of course, is it's almost always MUCH better than SATA, and often faster than _internal_ SATA drives.

 

[BarkingBeans Coffee]

It's certainly possible to go faster with Thunderbolt, but maybe not a LOT faster. I've measured out the OWC Envoy Pro FX which is a pre-built drive at 2113.70MB/s. So that's possible at least. But it's only about 500MB/s faster than what you are seeing.

Also note that raw NVMe drive speed does not translate directly to what you'll see via USB or Thunderbolt. I think that the common controllers probably don't take full advantage of all the features that make these cards faster in a native NVMe setting.

For exmaple I tested a Samsung 980 Pro NVMe in Gen3 slot and see 4921.14MB/s. You'd think this card would max out any USB or Thunderbolt connection, but that isn't necessarily the case. Likewise, Gen4 NVMe cards are slower in PCI 3 slots. This is all to say, when we're operating on USB or Thunderbolt we have to moderate our expectations a bit with regards to performance.

The upside of course, is it's almost always MUCH better than SATA, and often faster than _internal_ SATA drives.

@John Navitsky Do you think it matters for LRc or Photoshop, if I am getting 1425mb/s. I am guessing for the average file no, but maybe something over 1GB? Even so for the standard workflow I haven’t noticed anything of concern. I do have a new 32” monitor 4K vs an old HD monitor. I am guessing the time for preview generation isn’t in the read/write speed? I am not familiar with these nuisances?

 

[John Navitsky]

i haven't paid close attention or done any serious tests.

i've definitely seen improvements in preview building speed when i do it on the internal nvme drive. in general once import and preview building is done, i'm guessing it makes a lot less difference.

i DO however make sure my LR cache is set on a native internal nmve drive.

and if i'm importing/building previews for a large event, i do it to a native nvme drive, then after i'm done processing/exporting, i move it to a slower drive.

i have also seen performance bog down when using a lot of layers in LR, but it's unclear if disk speeds are involved here, i probably should look closer. it's a bit unfortunate because my machine isn't "slow", so the performance is a bit disappointing

 

[John Navitsky]

oh, i haven't looked, but if anyone has done tests on disk speed vs lightroom/photoshop, it's probably the ArtIsRight youtube channel guy

https://www.youtube.com/@ArtIsRight

 

[John Navitsky]

@John Navitsky Do you think it matters for LRc or Photoshop, if I am getting 1425mb/s. I am guessing for the average file no, but maybe something over 1GB?

for reference, SATAIII is 600MB/s, so our old style HDDs, both spinning and SSD maxed out at that. so i figure 1000MB/s or a bit north of that is decent. if you want much more than that you pretty much have to go native nvme anyway.

 

[BlackRockArt]

I agree with all the above posts.

Just keep one thing in mind:

when an SSD fails, there is no way of recovery.

I use Nvme drives for video and photo editing, SSD drives for catalogs, and all archives and backs stay on HDDs.

Oliver

 

[John Navitsky]

Just keep one thing in mind:

when an SSD fails, there is no way of recovery.

while i agree, we should not assume ANY drive can be recovered after failure and we should ensure our backup plans do not rely on use of the failed drive

 

[BlackRockArt]

while i agree, we should not assume ANY drive can be recovered after failure and we should ensure our backup plans do not rely on use of the failed drive

Thanks, John.

This is so true, after working in the IT field for 30 years, I have seen more weird drive failures in any imaginable way.

The 1-2-3 method is still the tried and true lifesaver.

Oliver

 

[Doomrider74]

Thanks everyone for your input.

 

[Not A Speck Of Cereal]

run a Windows machine, not Mac. But in my experience the only way to get really fast is to have both the catalogue and photos on the internal HD. At a minimum the catalog needs to be on the internal drive. Not realistic with a large catalog for image files to be on the internal drive

This is a "My PC can only have one internal drive" centric viewpoint.

A PC can have multiple internal drives (including laptops), and they're usually better performers than USB external drives.

BOOT: SSD NVMe, as usual, don't put anything here but OS/Apps

INTERNAL NVMe: my desktop photo editing machine has 2 (besides the boot). My road trip laptop as one extra.

1. One holds the LR catalog and previews
2. The other is scratch and ACR cache, plus I edit projects that require the extra performance (over HHD / External USB / NAS)

Upsides: this is the very fastest, best performing option, even more so than the external SSDs.​

Downside: They're relatively smaller sized (1-4TB) and more expensive than HHD​

Laptops: You can get laptops that take 1-2 NVMe drives (besides the boot drive).​

INTERNAL HHD: these are still a thing you know

• Right on the SATA bus
• Not taking up space externally
• No wires
• Very LARGE sizes (up to 20TB)
• Affordable (very much more so than SSD)

Laptop: many laptops offer an internal 2.5" HHD in addition to the boot NVMe drive. Those can be pretty large (2-4TB), though they seldom come that large from the factory (you have to upgrade it yourself or pay someone else after market). You might be able to order them special with the larger internal HHD.​

EXTERNAL HHD

• This probably applies more to the OP and anyone doing remote work with a laptop
• This is a popular option for Mac users that don't want to fuss with the whole expandable/extensible PC thing (be able to add and upgrade internal drives as the needs arrive)

Downside: typically the slowest option, takes space.​

EXTERNAL SSDs

• Plug-in SSD drives, very popular with a lot of you traveling with laptops on road trips. Steve has videos on this. Very robust, cost effective, you can keep multiple copies, etc.
• You can get external enclosures for NVMe drives. Not as robust for travel as the plug-in SSD drives, also more expensive, but very performant. This is probably the least likely choice for most of us.

On Topic Recap: my travel laptop has a boot NVMe SSD, an internal 2.5" 2TB HHD, and a extra non-boot NVMe SSDs. It might not be common, but it's doable.

Chris

 

[mrt]

To date, I've been using Lacie Rugged HD and they've been really reliable: However, they're pretty slow to work off (I run my Lightroom catalogue from them, as well as use them for storage). It's not down to them being full, either, as my current one is a 2TB version and has 1.77TB available. What external hard drive do you recommend to use with a MacBook Pro (2022 16", 1TB)?

I use a Crucial X6 2TB SSD when I travel, and transfer files to a 10TB My Book when I get home through LRC. The SSD is fast and tiny, and so far has been very durable. I have the same computer as you. The small size allows me to easily hide the hard drive in the camper away from the computer

 

[James C.]

I agree with all the above posts.

Just keep one thing in mind:

when an SSD fails, there is no way of recovery.

I use Nvme drives for video and photo editing, SSD drives for catalogs, and all archives and backs stay on HDDs.

Oliver

Which begs the question: How do you know when an SSD drive is nearing failure?

With mechanical hard drives, you may hear the "Click-of-Death" metallic clicking of the drive to warn you that the drive is nearing failure.

What (if any) are the warning signs of an SSD drive's imminent failure?

 

[John Navitsky]

i think most ssds do S.M.A.R.T. and some manufacturers have utilities like Samsung Magician