HT204414: Designate a System Photo Library in Photos

Learn about Designate a System Photo Library in Photos
Sailor Ian

Q: Can NAS host a secondary Photos library?

I am considering purchasing a NAS product and one of my intended uses for it is to store my photo collection.

Rather than use separate software to organise and edit these photos, I would prefer to use Apple Photos.  Whilst I understand that the disk / file format options for the NAS will almost certainly not allow me to use iCloud related features of Photos, I would like to have confirmation of whether it is nevertheless possible to host a secondary library on a NAS and access it through my Photos application.  (I would probably 'consolidate' a sub-set of my stored photos into the System Photos library on my Mac computer.)  Photos help suggests it should be, when it states "As long as the device or folder is accessible to Photos, you can view and work with these items in the Photos window just as you normally would. (Files that are stored in another location outside your Photos library are known as referenced files.)"

MacBook Air, OS X Yosemite (10.10.5), null

Posted on Oct 21, 2015 8:40 AM

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Q: Can NAS host a secondary Photos library?

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  • by LarryHN,

    LarryHN LarryHN Oct 21, 2015 9:04 AM in response to Sailor Ian
    Level 10 (84,617 points)
    Photos for Mac
    Oct 21, 2015 9:04 AM in response to Sailor Ian

    Not really

     

    Photos does not work unless its library is on a drive formatted Mac OS extended (journaled) which the NAS is not - the drive needs to be on a wired local fast connection which generally NASs are not

     

    and the description you post appears to be for a referenced library which is even worse - Photos simply does not have the tools to effectively use a referenced library

     

    You need a local drive formatted Mac OS extended (journaled) or a different software package

     

    LN

  • by Sailor Ian,

    Sailor Ian Sailor Ian Oct 21, 2015 9:47 AM in response to LarryHN
    Level 1 (4 points)
    Mac OS X
    Oct 21, 2015 9:47 AM in response to LarryHN

    Larry, many thanks for your reply.

     

    What continues to confuse me is captured in this section of the 'System Photo Library Overview' in Help for Photos:

    • By default, your System Photo Library is stored in the Pictures folder on your Mac, but you can move it to another location on your Mac or store it on an external storage device. However, to use iCloud services, the external storage device must be formatted using Mac OS Extended (Journaled) format, also known as HFS+.


    The clear implication is that Mac OS extended is only a necessity for using iCloud services.  Do you know if there is any way of asking the question directly of Apple?  Either it's do-able or their information is misleading.


    Once again, many thanks for responding to my query.


    regards,


    Ian

  • by LarryHN,Helpful

    LarryHN LarryHN Oct 21, 2015 10:05 AM in response to Sailor Ian
    Level 10 (84,617 points)
    Photos for Mac
    Oct 21, 2015 10:05 AM in response to Sailor Ian

    If you read these forum you will find hundreds of failures on incorrectly formatted drives and few if any successes

     

    You can call apple - there isa contact us link at the bottom of this page but the odds of getting someone with half the knowledge of the users is is slim

     

    Test it - copy your Photos library to the NAS can try it for a while - if you like the results then go ahead - you can do what ever you want - lots and lots of experience says you will have major problems but you are welcome to try it - just be sure that your original library and it's backup are safe

     

    LN

  • by Sailor Ian,

    Sailor Ian Sailor Ian Oct 21, 2015 10:06 AM in response to LarryHN
    Level 1 (4 points)
    Mac OS X
    Oct 21, 2015 10:06 AM in response to LarryHN

    OK Larry, thanks for your comments and time.  If I chance it I'll feed-back!

     

    regards,

     

    Ian

  • by léonie,Helpful

    léonie léonie Oct 21, 2015 12:26 PM in response to Sailor Ian
    Level 10 (106,888 points)
    iLife
    Oct 21, 2015 12:26 PM in response to Sailor Ian
    • By default, your System Photo Library is stored in the Pictures folder on your Mac, but you can move it to another location on your Mac or store it on an external storage device. However, to use iCloud services, the external storage device must be formatted using Mac OS Extended (Journaled) format, also known as HFS+.

    You're right, this document suggests that it might be possible to keep the library on a drive with a different format. But this document does not say, which file systems will work with Photos Libraries. If you copy the library to a drive with a different format, filenames and path names may become ambiguous and result in data loss. If your filenames contain ethnic characters or very long filenames, this may result in copy errors, when you move the library.

    And the document says nothing about using the library on a remotely mounted drive. I tested with a photos library on a server but without any luck. I had continually to repair the library.

     

    If you want to try try it, keep a backup of the library on a MacOS Extended formatted drive.