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Media files on a network drive ...

I would like to migrate all our media files (Photos library, videos, Music library, films, etc ...) to a network drive in order to free our internal drives of all the space these files requires. Actually, our network drive a Time Capsule (TC) 4nd gen.


We have a small home network (see diagram below) that we use with our 2 computers. All items are wired with either Cat 5 or Cat 6 cable except for a MacBook Air that is wirelessly connected.


I made a test. I moved an empty Photos library to the TC. I made that library the main Photos's library and began importing ±1000 photos over the network from my iMac.


Why is it «soooooooo loooooonnngggg» ? Is it a good idea to move our media files to a network drive ?


Thanks ahead for helping.



my Time Capsule or to any anyWas wondering if it is a good idea ?







iMac Line (2012 and Later)

Posted on Apr 30, 2021 11:39 AM

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Posted on May 1, 2021 9:24 AM

Until you get some feedback in the Apple Photos forum area, here are some Apple Support articles that may be worth reading:


For photos, not part of the Photos app, you can certainly store them on an external drive or NAS.


When it comes to the iTunes/Music Library, the following articles should come in handy, as well:


Note that both of the above articles covers iTunes. Since I have been using my Synology NAS as an iTunes server, I haven't kept up with all the techniques of moving an iTunes Library or how you can do the same with the newer Apple Music app's Library. This is where the folks supporting the iTunes area of this forum may come in to help you.

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4 replies
Question marked as Top-ranking reply

May 1, 2021 9:24 AM in response to Robert Lesperance

Until you get some feedback in the Apple Photos forum area, here are some Apple Support articles that may be worth reading:


For photos, not part of the Photos app, you can certainly store them on an external drive or NAS.


When it comes to the iTunes/Music Library, the following articles should come in handy, as well:


Note that both of the above articles covers iTunes. Since I have been using my Synology NAS as an iTunes server, I haven't kept up with all the techniques of moving an iTunes Library or how you can do the same with the newer Apple Music app's Library. This is where the folks supporting the iTunes area of this forum may come in to help you.

Apr 30, 2021 1:03 PM in response to Robert Lesperance

Great illustration!


Suggest that you check over in the Photos support forum for the best advice on Photos questions..


The experts over there have traditionally warned against trying to store a "working" Photos library on a network drive, especially the Time Capsule as opposed to a specific NAS or Network Attached Storage device......which the Time Capsule is not.


Access to images stored on the Time Capsule will be slow, edits will take a very long time, and worse.....there is very real chance that a communication error between a Mac and the library may corrupt the entire Photos library.


I made that library the main Photos's library and began importing ±1000 photos over the network from my iMac.


If you decide to move forward with transferring the Photos Library......(I am not recommending that you do this)....you would not "export / import" the images, you would simply copy / paste the Photo's Library over to the Time Capsule hard drive.


But again, please ask the Photos experts for advice.


If you do decide to move the images and media over to the Time Capsule drive, how will you back up all the images and other media? (The Time Capsule cannot back itself up, and Time Machine cannot back up a network drive.)


Actually, our network drive a Time Capsule (TC) 4nd gen.


The 4th Gen Time Capsule was discontinued in June 2013, so your Time Capsule is at least 8 years old and as much as 10 depending on when it was placed into service.


The average useful life of this version of the Time Capsule was about 5-6 years. Frankly, at 8 years, both the Time Capsule power supply and hard drive likely are overdue to fail. So, I would think very seriously about using the Time Capsule as a storage device for important data.


Personally, even if I had a new Time Capsule, I would not try to locate the main image library on the Time Capsule, but that's me. You may get other opinions from other users.












Media files on a network drive ...

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