QNAP NAS + Apple Photos App (Referenced Files)

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Level 1

8 points

QNAP NAS + Apple Photos App (Referenced Files)

Looking for advice or best practices.

Like many of us - I have 20+ years of digital photos and videos.

NAS is my best solution rather than ICloud... (so i'm not looking for subscriptions)

I LOVE the Photos app... and all it can do - So far, I'm creating a new Photos Library locally on my Mac... and loading over the network files located on my NAS...

ALSO - - I don't import the image files into the library and prefer keeping them "referenced"... if that makes sense... (I need to SEE where my image files are)

I realize Apple doesn't seem to (traditionally) support NAS for this kind of thing... but QNAP is now advertising that their devices have been "optimized" for use with Apple products...

For reference:

https://discussions.apple.com/thread/250743877

https://www.qnap.com/solution/apple-users/

Can anyone share their work flow using the above example of Local library with Referenced files on the NAS?

Thanks in advance for your input - respectfully - I'm not looking into responses promoting use of iCloud, USB Drives, rather, I'm hoping to get input on the above model - - thanks again.

Posted on Jun 3, 2021 9:52 AM

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Answer 1

Yer_Man

Level 10

166,378 points

Jun 3, 2021 10:39 AM in response to usa_eur

I wouldn't risk it.

A: Photos is very poor with referenced files anyway, lacking al the tools you need to effectively manage the files.

B: Adding to that the complexity of a networked file path to the original is simply add complexity to an already creaking system

Note none of this reflects at all on the NAS, but entirely on Photos. That said, the page you reference from the QNAP site is quite selective in what it advertises, and makes no promises at all about Photos and the Library in referenced mode or otherwise.

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Answer 2

Jun 3, 2021 1:57 PM in response to usa_eur

It doesn't work.

Storing your referenced files on a NAS will result in repeated loss of connection to your referenced files.

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Answer 3

Jun 4, 2021 5:04 AM in response to usa_eur

+1 from me for what has been said about referenced files, definitely best avoided

Leonie sums it up well

https://discussions.apple.com/docs/DOC-250002591

Like, Yer_Man I also use Lightroom for all my Raw files, but I do use Photos for my iPhone photos as it means I can use the Live photo option, Portrait, etc and I use iCloud to sync across all devices which works very well.

However, as part of my backup plan, as well as keeping entire copies of my library in various places (not the NAS) I do export all of my edited photos from Photos and store them on the NAS in .jpg. I use Synology NAS and their Photo and Video iOS apps are pretty decent and no doubt similar to the QNAP apps. I can then give access to my photos to various family members rather than messing about with shared albums in iCloud.

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Answer 4

usa_eur Author

Level 1

8 points

Jun 3, 2021 11:06 AM in response to Yer_Man

I'm afraid I agree with you 100%.. I wish it "just worked"... as I really like the presentation and "memories" feature Photos offers... I suppose I can just do that on my own... but can I ask - what is your work flow like? How do you manage/review your photo collection? Software?

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Answer 5

Yer_Man

Level 10

166,378 points

Jun 3, 2021 3:10 PM in response to usa_eur

what is your work flow like? How do you manage/review your photo collection? Software?

I manage my photos with Adobe Lightroom Classic, sometimes using DxO PhotoLab for Raw processing. I store my photos on a number of external HDs - not a NAS.

Picks from my Raws and the family's snaps from various cameras are managed by Adobe Lightroom - the Cloud version. This means the masters are stored in the cloud (with a local back up, of course) and available on all our devices and the over the Web if we need them.

These are both subscription applications. I fail to see the logic in folks spending thousands on cameras and lenses and then trying to manage and process the images in a giveaway app.

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