NAS Drives

[DavidT]

I am curious how many of you save your Lightroom files to a NAS drive?

I have had a NAS set up in RAID 5 with 10TB that I haven't been using. Finally yesterday I set up my MacBook and iMac to do their time machine back ups to it and it got me thinking maybe I should save my Lightroom files to it so I can access and edit from either computer and anywhere. Is this how it would work?

 

[John Navitsky]

i find the time taken to import and build previews substantially different between a NVME SSD and a SATA SSD, so i probably wouldn't want to do that on a NAS.

if possible, i think i'd want to do my initial import/previews on an NVME SSD (and possibly the edits) then move them to other storage like a NAS.

 

[DavidT]

i find the time taken to import and build previews substantially different between a NVME SSD and a SATA SSD, so i probably wouldn't want to do that on a NAS.

if possible, i think i'd want to do my initial import/previews on an NVME SSD (and possibly the edits) then move them to other storage like a NAS.

That makes a lot of sense.

 

[Palmor]

I agree with John, I think if my catalog was on my NAS it would drive me crazy. I have heard of people that will keep their LR catalog on a portable SSD and move the SSD from computer to computer (knowing you aren't going to have your entire photo set with you, but just the things you want to work on on that 2nd computer... if that makes sense).

 

[Calson]

With my latest NAS I bought one with multiple 1GB Ethernet ports and a single 10GB port. I added a 10GB NIC to my tower computer and have a high speed cable from the PC to the NAS. I bypassed my Cisco switch which is limited to 1GB throughput. Newer switches provide 2.5GB or 10GB speeds but they are for the most part meant for data centers and so most have 16 or more ports and loud cooling fans. The market is rapidly changing with the advent of 4K video processing and prices have decreased considerably. Two worth a look are the QNAP QSW-M408-2C and the Netgear 10-port 10GB switch. A fast switch with even 2.5GGB speed will allow for viewing 4K video straight off a NAS.

 

[Darrellhar]

I use a 5 bay Drobo that I keep my LR library on. My catalog is kept on my iMacs local drive.

 

[SandyW]

Initial importing/edits are always done on my desktop. That said, I frequently backup everything to the NAS (catalogues, previews, and photos,) sometimes while the editing session is still in progress. The NAS will be one of the first things I grab if I have to evacuate for a wildfire!