Jackrabbit416

Q: iPhoto Library on MacMini with Lion Server?

Okay everyone -- I know this question has been asked somewhere -- I just haven't seen it answered exactly the way I need.

 

My wife has a beautiful new MacAir with iPhoto 11 and Lion -- and HATES it because she can't keep all of her photos of the kids on it (too much space).  That's downright tragic...hating a MacAir!  She will not carry around an external drive...and I don't blame her.  The good news?  Most of her interaction with iPhoto is at home...leading me to...

 

I'd like to setup a mini with an external drive attached to it to store her main photo library.  I'm also thinking Lion server is likely the way to go (correct me if I'm wrong).

 

Could someone please just lay out the best solution here...with some detailed instructions?  It would keep my wife happy with her Mac...and really...we all win.

 

To recap.  Mac Air, would love to keep the iPhoto library on a local home server...preferably a mini with an external drive attached.  I understand she can only access the photos at home.

 

Thanks to all!

Posted on Mar 12, 2012 5:38 PM

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Q: iPhoto Library on MacMini with Lion Server?

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  • by Terence Devlin,

    Terence Devlin Terence Devlin Jan 27, 2013 3:33 PM in response to TheBruceleeroy
    Level 10 (139,572 points)
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    Jan 27, 2013 3:33 PM in response to TheBruceleeroy
  • by TheBruceleeroy,

    TheBruceleeroy TheBruceleeroy Jan 27, 2013 3:49 PM in response to Terence Devlin
    Level 1 (0 points)
    Jan 27, 2013 3:49 PM in response to Terence Devlin
  • by Old Toad,

    Old Toad Old Toad Jan 27, 2013 5:00 PM in response to TheBruceleeroy
    Level 10 (141,336 points)
    Mac OS X
    Jan 27, 2013 5:00 PM in response to TheBruceleeroy

    If you want a digital asset management application that can store the source files on a server and access them remotely give  Media Pro 1 a look.  It's cross platform, lets you view thumbnails and very large special previews without the source files available. 

  • by Christopher Archer,

    Christopher Archer Christopher Archer Oct 10, 2013 9:52 PM in response to Jackrabbit416
    Level 1 (30 points)
    Oct 10, 2013 9:52 PM in response to Jackrabbit416

    Not sure if this has all been hashed out or not as it's been some time since the last post

     

    I too am going through a similar scenario

     

    In my family I have four macs, seven iPads, eight iPhones

     

    All I was is consistent data on each device (some limitations of course)

     

    However, we (as a whole) don't live in a completely trust worthy wireless environment yet where outages and scheduled and un-scheduled maintenance issues never happen

     

    My temporary fix for the iPhoto deal...buy a monster fire-wire or thunderbolt external hard drive and save your iPhoto library to it...go to Sams or Costco and buy a case of monster or red bull...go home..create a flickr account (currently offering 1TB)...slowly begin the uploading process of your choice

     

    Like I said...it's a temporary fix...

     

    iTunes Match is another nice feature but I personally don't see it hanging around too long...I'm still working I'm a solution for this...any suggestions?

     

    Contacts, calendars, notes and reminders...apple has done seamless but I think this was a more simple task than the other two we're all wanting

     

    I have a few NAS drives so I'm constantly tinkering with ideas but I don't have nearly the tinkering power that Apple holds

     

    If we find work arounds...great but I'm pretty confident Apple will solve it

     

    As for the MacBook Air...replace the hard drive

     

    The overall convenience do the Air is its size...but if it's equipped with an SSD and doesn't really need to be...sacrifice that speed for a larger capacity drive

     

    I understand convenience and desire (the Porsche for a family of 10) but making 5 round trips at 120mph will take longer than 1 round trip in a Chrysler town & country at 70

     

    Let's not overthink the obvious...

  • by Jackrabbit416,

    Jackrabbit416 Jackrabbit416 Oct 10, 2013 10:27 PM in response to Christopher Archer
    Level 1 (0 points)
    Oct 10, 2013 10:27 PM in response to Christopher Archer

    You know I gotta say -- this was a simple question for a real problem people are having.  I don't think it's necessary to judge the question with "let's not overthink the obvious".  That kinda attitude really drives me nuts on these forum questions.

     

    The fact is, people entrusted their most priceless and precious possesion -- family photos and videos -- to an application that worked well for many years.  Now, as internal hard drives are peaking in size in the portable Mac family (actually decreasing in some cases)...users are left with libraries bigger than an internal drive can handle.

     

    Asking for a wireless/server/web solution to iPhoto is not a ridiculous request.  The MacBook Pro and Air aren't luxury Porsches, they're portable computers that come with iPhoto.  The world is moving away from the desktop (Apple is leading the charge btw), and many of us with 10 year+ iPhoto libraries larger than 500-750 gigs would love a solution.  That's all.

     

    If the answer is "no", great!  But let's not judge the question, it's a real issue for us.

     

    Thanks

  • by Jackrabbit416,

    Jackrabbit416 Jackrabbit416 Oct 10, 2013 10:32 PM in response to Old Toad
    Level 1 (0 points)
    Oct 10, 2013 10:32 PM in response to Old Toad

    Old Toad, I'm reading through this old chain and I think you've got the best solution here.  Time Machine backup the iPhoto library on the server.  We just may give it a try -- thanks again!

  • by Christopher Archer,

    Christopher Archer Christopher Archer Oct 11, 2013 1:02 AM in response to Jackrabbit416
    Level 1 (30 points)
    Oct 11, 2013 1:02 AM in response to Jackrabbit416

    Rabbit

     

    I can assure you that my reply was met with no attitude

     

    Attitude would have been...why did you buy a MBA when you could have spent a few dollars more and gotten something more powerful...seriously?

     

    I tell everyone in every situation not to overthink the obvious

     

    In today's complex world, we continually look for a complex answer...yet most of the time the answer (or the solution to our problem / issue) is far less complex than we want it to be

     

    Sounds to me like you weren't getting the answers you wanted and frustration set in...which is understandable because like I said...this world...our lives...it's complex

  • by sligett,

    sligett sligett Dec 19, 2013 8:19 AM in response to Terence Devlin
    Level 1 (0 points)
    Dec 19, 2013 8:19 AM in response to Terence Devlin

    My experience is that you can certainly use iPhoto with a library connected via a wireless network. The underlying sharing protocol handles any transmission errors. There could be a problem if you have your iPhoto library open and leave the coverage area of the wireless network or if the server dies. But you'd have that problem with any sort of network, be it wired, wireless, fiber, or even with a local hard drive or flash drive (that you disconnect).

     

    Millions of people backup their Macs to Time Machines via wireless networking - if wireless networking wasn't reliable, that wouldn't work.

  • by Terence Devlin,

    Terence Devlin Terence Devlin Dec 19, 2013 8:49 AM in response to sligett
    Level 10 (139,572 points)
    iLife
    Dec 19, 2013 8:49 AM in response to sligett

    I'm delighted that you have had no problems so far. But read what I wrote:

     

    A strong warning: If you're trying to edit the Library (that is, make albums, move photos around, keyword, make books or slideshows etc.) or edit individual photos in it via Wireless be very careful. Dropouts are a common fact of wireless networking, and should one occur while the app is writing to the database then your Library will be damaged. Simply, I would not do this with my Libraries.

     

    So what has happened is that you've been fortunate, so far, in that there has been no dropout while you're working with the Library. And while underlyng protocol may handle transmission errors it doesn't handle iPhoto being interrupted while writing to the DB, and that always causes problems.

     

    But don't take my word for it. Maybe you'll listen to Apple:

     

    http://support.apple.com/kb/TS5168

     

    Note also the comment:

     

    “Additionally, storing the iPhoto library on a network rather than locally on your computer can also lead to poor performance or data loss.”

     

    As for your Time Machine comment, have you noted that Time Machine and iPhoto are quite different apps?

  • by sligett,

    sligett sligett Dec 19, 2013 10:08 AM in response to Terence Devlin
    Level 1 (0 points)
    Dec 19, 2013 10:08 AM in response to Terence Devlin

    Yes, I read what you wrote, and I read that Apple article - the title of which is

    iPhoto: Issues with FAT32-formatted drives

     

    So I see instances where one might lose data:

     

    a. using FAT32 formatted device,

    b. using Windows file sharing

     

    I agree with Apple's statement "iPhoto libraries should be stored on a locally mounted Mac OS X Extended drive for best performance." (italics mine) Retransmissions are a fact of life in any network, wired or wireless. They are also a fact of life with local hard drives. iPhoto will be suspended while the data is being written in any case - whether it has to be retried or not.

  • by Terence Devlin,

    Terence Devlin Terence Devlin Dec 19, 2013 12:27 PM in response to sligett
    Level 10 (139,572 points)
    iLife
    Dec 19, 2013 12:27 PM in response to sligett

    You know, whatever. Folks can make up their own minds, and those who have suffered corrupted Libraries from that set up might well disagree with you. But argue away by all means, and while doing so explain away this:

     

    “Additionally, storing the iPhoto library on a network rather than locally on your computer can also lead to poor performance or data loss.”

  • by sligett,

    sligett sligett Dec 20, 2013 12:08 PM in response to Terence Devlin
    Level 1 (0 points)
    Dec 20, 2013 12:08 PM in response to Terence Devlin

    That quotation is from an article about problems with FAT32-formatted drives used for iPhoto libraries, as I mentioned, perhaps too obliquely. The article says don't store your iPhoto library on a FAT32-formatted drive, local or networked. You are extrapolating that to any networked device. I don't believe that is a reasonable extrapolation.

     

    I have talked to sysadmins at several schools that use Macs with networked home directories, and users with networked home directories can use iPhoto successfully. That's a few thousand users I know of who use iPhoto with a networked library.

  • by Terence Devlin,

    Terence Devlin Terence Devlin Dec 20, 2013 12:30 PM in response to sligett
    Level 10 (139,572 points)
    iLife
    Dec 20, 2013 12:30 PM in response to sligett

    The word there is...

     

    'Additionally...'

     

    That means it refers to networked installations, regardless of disk format. But again, perhaps you'll agree that Aperture and iPhoto use the same library? How about this:

     

    http://support.apple.com/kb/TS3252

     

    and again:

     

    Also, it is strongly recommended that the Aperture library be stored on a locally mounted hard drive. Storing the Aperture library on a network share can also lead to poor performance, data corruption, or data loss.

     

    Note the use of the word 'Also' and the final sentence makes no mention at all of disk format. So there's a certain amount of congruence there, no?

     

    And while I understand you've talked to sysadmins at schools, I've dealt with sysadmins who post here wondering why their networked iPhoto Libraries are being damaged.

     

    My final words on the subject.

  • by Adeel,

    Adeel Adeel Jan 6, 2014 3:54 PM in response to Jackrabbit416
    Level 1 (0 points)
    Jan 6, 2014 3:54 PM in response to Jackrabbit416

    What if you had your iphoto library on a mac-mini or iMac and with your macbook air, use screen sharing to work on your mac-mini iphoto library.  Would that obviate the reliability issues related to having your iphoto library on networked drive?

  • by Peanutsnbacon,

    Peanutsnbacon Peanutsnbacon May 4, 2014 6:38 PM in response to Jackrabbit416
    Level 1 (0 points)
    May 4, 2014 6:38 PM in response to Jackrabbit416

    (My 2cents worth). If you download the file/picture to your mac air then edit and replace to the networked storage you wouldn't have to worry about corrupting the file (unknowingly).  Using screenshare wouldn't necessarily prevent you from corrupting the original 'cause your file/pic will still be on a network storage space and you'd still be editing that one.  I still suggest you make a local copy, edit that and then replace especially if your editing TIFF or RAW.  Probably better to just use a DAM system, I am looking into those now.

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