What should I use Partition/Volume for extra iPad storage space on a Home Network HDD

Partitioning and splitting into volumes is generally the same thing.

You partition the drive and make a new volume for files to reside in.

You can do whatever you want. You can just create a folder for her even.

The iPad won't directly or automatically access the space on a network drive save content there, but the Files App can be made to access it and allow her to manually save files to it. Photos will remain on the device though they can be manually exported to the drive in the Files app. Apps can only live on the device and cannot be moved to the network storage. Downloaded music and movies will only live on the iPad in the relevant apps and cannot be moved to the network drive.

Also note, the networked storage would only be available to the iPad while connected to the home Wi-Fi, she won't be able to access it over the internet unless you that setup through your router.

Why exactly are you thinking of partitioning it, instead of just assigning a folder to her? Most network storage devices allow the assignment of disk quotas which can limit the amount of storage her file folder can use without the need of partitions to volumes. Check with the network storage user guide for how to set that up.

Bidge wrote:

Would that route allow her to store the photos someplace other than the IPad (whilst preserving the library) and therefore reduce her used storage space on the iPad or are we just up the creek without a paddle unless I subscribe to extra iCloud storage.

Sadly no. There's no real way to create a replacement iCloud option for the iPad to connect to, and even if you could, the iPad still stores local copies of the images, so the storage space on it would still be used. You wouldn't

be gaining any real storage that way.

The option iCloud photos offers is to "Optimize Storage" which reduces the quality and by extension file size of local copies while keeping the unaltered version in iCloud, which can be accessed and downloaded at any time.

This works with iCloud only. There is no way to do this with another "cloud" option.

You are unfortunately at the limits of what the iPad can do.

Maybe consider replacing it with a Mac with a larger capacity drive. It can still use the Photos app to keep most of the organization in place.

Outside of that, consider removing images from those 31.5K that she may not be using that regularly. Hard to imagine she needs to access all those images regularly.

Bidge wrote:

Thank you for the advice and useful info.

Largely, I thought to partition the drive, because I don't/didn't really know what I should I do to provide her with the extra storage space she needs, whilst preserving a chunk of it for my use.

The other 4TB of the drive I was intending to use as back-up drive for my data from the Mac, which I guess was my biggest thought in why I should partition the drive, therefore dedicating a set amount of space to back-ups from the Mac and set amount of space for her iPad data.

If you are using Time Machine for the Backup, then yes, you would want to partition it, so Time Machine gets one section for itself and the other section would be left for files from the iPad.

If you are using a different backup solution, or just manually backing up files from your Mac, then you probably won't need to partition it, but you would need to consult the requirements of the backup solution specifically.

click here ➜ Partition a physical disk in Disk Utility on Mac - Apple Support

An issue I hadn't considered though and you have brought it to my attention is her photo library, which is where most of the storage on her device is being used up. You mention I can transfer the photos to the home network drive, but I can I transfer the library? Its largely just reference images for her art from the internet that she saves and holds onto for future reference.

No. The Library will always reside on the iPad. You can transfer the individual images out and delete them from the iPad, but then they won't be accessible from the Photos app directly on the iPad, She would have to navigate through the Files app to access them and you would lose all the organization features from the Photos app.

I'm not sure if the drive or drive bay I'm using is classified/considered as a Network storage device (I don't believe they are). Its just a simple 5 Bay enclosure from IcyBox (which I'm pretty sure I've saw sold under other brand names too) wired directly into the Mac, and a Seagate Barracuda. I was just intending to use the File/Media sharing option on the Mac to add it to the home network and letting her access the drive that way.

That would work, but yes no specific quotas can be set then. If you do partition it then you can share only the one partition to the network.

We're not worried about access to the drive (at least for now) outside the home network, as she is disabled and is pretty much house bound, so the likelihood of needing to access the data from anyplace else is limited, as the iPad and her are pretty much always at home.

O.k, good to know.

You're welcome. Sorry it was not a better outcome for you.