How to move iPhoto library to NAS

one suggestion though, dont do the export to the final destination (NAS, etc) where the previous export resides. Do it to a seperate location, then copy it over to the previous export. iPhoto would just rename the current export to complete the action, resulting in duplicate folders { Example: Holiday, Holiday(1) }.

tcbritt3 wrote:

one suggestion though, dont do the export to the final destination (NAS, etc) where the previous export resides. Do it to a seperate location, then copy it over to the previous export. iPhoto would just rename the current export to complete the action, resulting in duplicate folders { Example: Holiday, Holiday(1) }.

Wow, thanks for that... indeed a very intelligent workflow!! 🙂

Sorry to keep this old thread going but I feel sick to my stomach after reading this. I have and iPhoto library of over 28,000 images so I decided that my 2 TB external HD was not a safe way to store them and the time machine 2 TB external HD was not a sufficient way to have redundancy. So ... I paid a LOT of money for a Drobo NAS.

I wish I saw this thread prior to my purchase. I have a lot of video and music as well so I thought the NAS was a great solution.

Clearly I'm a novice so I don't know how to partition drives etc. But what DO I do? Do I have to go back to OS X formatted external hard drives and use the NAS for ... what? .... a night stand?

I noticed that the original thread is over 4 years old so I'm hoping there's a way to convert the Drobo NAS to work with iphoto library now.

No

the iPhoto library must be on a locally attached volume formatted Mac OS extended - that has not changed

Has Drobo changed? I doubt it but to find out you need to contact their tech support

It is technically possible to create a corrected disk image on a NAS and use it but reports are that it is very inconvient and slow

LN

Running a disk image from the NAS isn't advisbale though, as you shouldn't have the Library on a network connection.

Ok so I should have the library on the external HD like I did before and use the NAS as a TimeMachine backup for the original photos? I just want the library to run very smoothly BUT more importantly, I want reduncacy for the files so I don't lose them if the HD fails. Thanks for the advice btw.

Yes the Library needs to be on a local or locally connected disk. The disk must be formatted Mac OS Extended (Journaled)

Then yes, you also need a back up. You can certainly back up the Masters to the NAS - the File -> Export command will get those for you

This User Tip

https://discussions.apple.com/docs/DOC-4921

has details of the options in the Export dialogue.

BUt in the event that the HD with the Library goes down, you'll lose all the work that you have done in iPhoto, so you might consider another USB disk for backing up the Library.

Understood. Ok thanks again.

Some people seem to be able to place their iPhoto libraries on an ext4 formatted NAS like a Synology and other people are saying you have to have it on a local HFS+ journaled drive. Which one is it? Why wouldn't it work on a NAS? Do you lose metadata? Having a NAS handle all the photos makes a lot of sense to me at least.

Philip

The iPhoto library must always be on a volume formatted Mac OS extended (journaled) - which leavs out an y NAS

The iPHoto library must be on a hard wired connection - no network connection

As to exactly why you need to contact Apple - but the general answer is because the iPhoto library is complx SQLite database and requires the Mac format

You are welcome to do what you want - but you will have problems if not immediately, eventually

and I've seen no one who knows iPhoto well say the library can be on any NAS - Apple says it can not be

LN

Thanks for the clear reply. It's an untenable restriction as my library grows. I won't risk it but looks like I might have to figure out an exit strategy from iPhoto. It's a really odd design choice.

Philip

It's a really odd design choice.

One of the reason, why a local drive is preferable, is the response time. Remote access to a NAS is slower than a direct connection with Thunderbolt or USB3. When browsing and editing a large photo library or large RAW files, it will be no joy, to have to access the photos via network. A NAS is fine for small text documents, or media (videos, music) that you stream for watching, but working with a photo library requires fast, random access. With the iPhoto library on a NAS your next post will probably be "Why is my iPhoto so slow"? But don't risk it - it is not supported anyway, and you would be risking library corruption and data loss.

Not at all - but iPhoto certainly is not for everyone and is not required - you probably want a more capabile (and much more expensive) Digital Asset Management system - there is a DAM forum site on the internet where DAMs are discussed - check it out

LN

I can confirm that the iPhoto library must be on a HFS+ formatted drive.

Since five years, my iPhoto Library (about 130000 photos) is stored on a Synology NAS using iSCSI.

It's very fast and i never had a problem.

You have been lucky. Apple says differently, see this link: http://support.apple.com/kb/HT1198

It's recommended that you store your iPhoto library on a locally mounted hard drive. Storing your iPhoto library on a network share can lead to poor performance, data corruption, or data loss. If you use both iPhoto and Aperture with the same library, using a Mac OS X Extended formatted volume is recommended. For more information, see Aperture: Use locally mounted Mac OS X Extended volumes for your Aperture library.