iPhoto Library on MacMini with Lion Server?

This?

http://macupdate.com/app/mac/679/extensis-portfolio

If you want a digital asset management application that can store the source files on a server and access them remotely give Media Pro 1 a look. It's cross platform, lets you view thumbnails and very large special previews without the source files available.

Not sure if this has all been hashed out or not as it's been some time since the last post

I too am going through a similar scenario

In my family I have four macs, seven iPads, eight iPhones

All I was is consistent data on each device (some limitations of course)

However, we (as a whole) don't live in a completely trust worthy wireless environment yet where outages and scheduled and un-scheduled maintenance issues never happen

My temporary fix for the iPhoto deal...buy a monster fire-wire or thunderbolt external hard drive and save your iPhoto library to it...go to Sams or Costco and buy a case of monster or red bull...go home..create a flickr account (currently offering 1TB)...slowly begin the uploading process of your choice

Like I said...it's a temporary fix...

iTunes Match is another nice feature but I personally don't see it hanging around too long...I'm still working I'm a solution for this...any suggestions?

Contacts, calendars, notes and reminders...apple has done seamless but I think this was a more simple task than the other two we're all wanting

I have a few NAS drives so I'm constantly tinkering with ideas but I don't have nearly the tinkering power that Apple holds

If we find work arounds...great but I'm pretty confident Apple will solve it

As for the MacBook Air...replace the hard drive

The overall convenience do the Air is its size...but if it's equipped with an SSD and doesn't really need to be...sacrifice that speed for a larger capacity drive

I understand convenience and desire (the Porsche for a family of 10) but making 5 round trips at 120mph will take longer than 1 round trip in a Chrysler town & country at 70

Let's not overthink the obvious...

Rabbit

I can assure you that my reply was met with no attitude

Attitude would have been...why did you buy a MBA when you could have spent a few dollars more and gotten something more powerful...seriously?

I tell everyone in every situation not to overthink the obvious

In today's complex world, we continually look for a complex answer...yet most of the time the answer (or the solution to our problem / issue) is far less complex than we want it to be

Sounds to me like you weren't getting the answers you wanted and frustration set in...which is understandable because like I said...this world...our lives...it's complex

My experience is that you can certainly use iPhoto with a library connected via a wireless network. The underlying sharing protocol handles any transmission errors. There could be a problem if you have your iPhoto library open and leave the coverage area of the wireless network or if the server dies. But you'd have that problem with any sort of network, be it wired, wireless, fiber, or even with a local hard drive or flash drive (that you disconnect).

Millions of people backup their Macs to Time Machines via wireless networking - if wireless networking wasn't reliable, that wouldn't work.

I'm delighted that you have had no problems so far. But read what I wrote:

A strong warning: If you're trying to edit the Library (that is, make albums, move photos around, keyword, make books or slideshows etc.) or edit individual photos in it via Wireless be very careful. Dropouts are a common fact of wireless networking, and should one occur while the app is writing to the database then your Library will be damaged. Simply, I would not do this with my Libraries.

So what has happened is that you've been fortunate, so far, in that there has been no dropout while you're working with the Library. And while underlyng protocol may handle transmission errors it doesn't handle iPhoto being interrupted while writing to the DB, and that always causes problems.

But don't take my word for it. Maybe you'll listen to Apple:

http://support.apple.com/kb/TS5168

Note also the comment:

“Additionally, storing the iPhoto library on a network rather than locally on your computer can also lead to poor performance or data loss.”

As for your Time Machine comment, have you noted that Time Machine and iPhoto are quite different apps?

Yes, I read what you wrote, and I read that Apple article - the title of which is

iPhoto: Issues with FAT32-formatted drives

So I see instances where one might lose data:

a. using FAT32 formatted device,

b. using Windows file sharing

I agree with Apple's statement "iPhoto libraries should be stored on a locally mounted Mac OS X Extended drive for best performance." (italics mine) Retransmissions are a fact of life in any network, wired or wireless. They are also a fact of life with local hard drives. iPhoto will be suspended while the data is being written in any case - whether it has to be retried or not.

You know, whatever. Folks can make up their own minds, and those who have suffered corrupted Libraries from that set up might well disagree with you. But argue away by all means, and while doing so explain away this:

“Additionally, storing the iPhoto library on a network rather than locally on your computer can also lead to poor performance or data loss.”

That quotation is from an article about problems with FAT32-formatted drives used for iPhoto libraries, as I mentioned, perhaps too obliquely. The article says don't store your iPhoto library on a FAT32-formatted drive, local or networked. You are extrapolating that to any networked device. I don't believe that is a reasonable extrapolation.

I have talked to sysadmins at several schools that use Macs with networked home directories, and users with networked home directories can use iPhoto successfully. That's a few thousand users I know of who use iPhoto with a networked library.

The word there is...

'Additionally...'

That means it refers to networked installations, regardless of disk format. But again, perhaps you'll agree that Aperture and iPhoto use the same library? How about this:

http://support.apple.com/kb/TS3252

and again:

Also, it is strongly recommended that the Aperture library be stored on a locally mounted hard drive. Storing the Aperture library on a network share can also lead to poor performance, data corruption, or data loss.

Note the use of the word 'Also' and the final sentence makes no mention at all of disk format. So there's a certain amount of congruence there, no?

And while I understand you've talked to sysadmins at schools, I've dealt with sysadmins who post here wondering why their networked iPhoto Libraries are being damaged.

My final words on the subject.

What if you had your iphoto library on a mac-mini or iMac and with your macbook air, use screen sharing to work on your mac-mini iphoto library. Would that obviate the reliability issues related to having your iphoto library on networked drive?

(My 2cents worth). If you download the file/picture to your mac air then edit and replace to the networked storage you wouldn't have to worry about corrupting the file (unknowingly). Using screenshare wouldn't necessarily prevent you from corrupting the original 'cause your file/pic will still be on a network storage space and you'd still be editing that one. I still suggest you make a local copy, edit that and then replace especially if your editing TIFF or RAW. Probably better to just use a DAM system, I am looking into those now.

I helped setup a home iPhoto library for a client a few years ago and I still help them maintain it. I'm also concerned with any chance of data loss on their photo library. Considering the downfalls of potential Photo Library issues when accessing or editing over wifi, this solution worked for us:

• Mac Mini Server (originally Lion, now on Mavericks)
• Shared iPhoto library on their home wifi network.
• Client has a MBP, MBA, a couple of iPads and iPhones all signed in to the same AppleID as the mac mini.

Any photos taken from the iPads or iPhone are automatically synced via Photostream to the mac mini and other iDevices. The client never interacts directly with the headless mac mini (doesn't care to). I use Teamviewer remotely and apple remote desktop locally to manage the server.

The Mac mini server downloads the Photostream, then backs up to Timemachine (USB 1TB drive) and Crashplan (unlimited cloud storage) daily.

The client doesn't edit any photos, so we haven't encountered database corruption in that scenario. But we'd be able to recover the library or individual photos from Time Machine or Crashplan at various restore points, if it ever came to it. I check the Time Machine and CrashPlan backups every few months. I also audit backup settings and perform spot checks and test restores annually.

We've only had to restore files once, and it was related to a failed HDD.

There's never a full-vetted 100% recommended solution to database syncs whenever wifi is involved, but that's not a reason to give up. Keep things backed up in a couple of locations and you shouldn't run into major issues while using wifi.