aukirk
Level 1 (0 points)

Q: Performance with Referenced Master on Time Capsule vs. Attached Hard Drive

My managed master library on my MBP is getting too big and I am running out of hard drive space.  I am considering going to a "hybrid" situation, where all projects that have already been edited and stored in folders can be relocated to referenced.

 

Considering my options, I am wondering how Aperture will perform with referenced masters stored on the networked Time Capsule drive, as opposed to having to plug in a USB3 or Thunderbolt hard drive every time I want to re-edit those old photos (which is not very often).

 

I came across this article, which says to use a locally mounted drive:

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

 

However, I am not sure exactly what that means.  When I connect to the Time Capsule, it does show up as a mounted drive with a "data" folder that I can interact and store things on.  Not sure if this counts as "local", but from my experience it seems to move pretty quick.

 

Does anyone have any experience storing the referenced masters on a Time Capsule.  My plan would then be to periodically back that one Time Capsule folder where all masters will be placed to a harddrive stored off-site and also set CrashPlan up to backup that one folder.  Thanks for any input... otherwise, I guess I will test it and see how it goes, since I rarely/never go back and re-edit images.

Posted on Oct 27, 2013 6:50 AM

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aukirk

Q: Performance with Referenced Master on Time Capsule vs. Attached Hard Drive

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  • by Frank Caggiano,

    Frank Caggiano Frank Caggiano Oct 27, 2013 7:05 AM in response to aukirk
    Level 7 (25,796 points)
    Oct 27, 2013 7:05 AM in response to aukirk

    The drive on the Time Capsule would not be considered locally mounted, it is a network attached drive.

     

    As for the requirement that the library be on a locally mounted drive, that applies to the library only. If you make the originals referenced it is possible to store them on another type of drive. However keep in mind that some people interpret that requirement to apply to the originals also.

     

    All in all the best solution would be to get a drive for the originals that you connect directly to the system. Given the way the originals are accessed by Aperture you don;t need super fast as you would if the whole library was stored externally., a regular USB drive will work fine.

     

    If you decide to try the Time Capsule I recommend you relocate a project or two and use it for a while to see how it performs before making a final decision.

  • by Kirby Krieger,

    Kirby Krieger Kirby Krieger Oct 27, 2013 7:06 AM in response to aukirk
    Level 6 (12,522 points)
    Oct 27, 2013 7:06 AM in response to aukirk

    It can be done, but you are "saving" the cost of an inexpensive external drive by accepting the cost of a convoluted administrative set-up.  IME, for one person or any organization small enough to _not_ have a dedicated IT person/staff, that is a false economy.  Typically, one of the admin tasks won't get done or won't get done right (you might need more space for back-ups on your Time Capsule, or you might forget exactly how you set up the TC drive to hold your Originals and put off moving more to it).

     

    Drives are inexpensive, and bargains.  For rarely loaded referenced Originals you don't _need_ anything faster than USB 2 (FW400 or any faster connection rec'd).  Additionally, if you have room on your Time Capsule for your referenced Originals, then you have room for their backup.  Put the referenced Originals on a new external drive, and back it up to Time Capsule.

     

    And then you don't have to worry about pulling your Originals through a network.  They will be locally mounted.

     

    My 2¢.

     

    --Kirby.

  • by aukirk,

    aukirk aukirk Oct 27, 2013 11:01 AM in response to Kirby Krieger
    Level 1 (0 points)
    Oct 27, 2013 11:01 AM in response to Kirby Krieger

    Kirby Krieger wrote:

     

    Drives are inexpensive, and bargains.  For rarely loaded referenced Originals you don't _need_ anything faster than USB 2 (FW400 or any faster connection rec'd).  Additionally, if you have room on your Time Capsule for your referenced Originals, then you have room for their backup.  Put the referenced Originals on a new external drive, and back it up to Time Capsule.

     

    The big downside to the attached drive is that I will actually have to get up from where I am and get the drive (as odds are it won't be sitting right next to me).  Whereas, with the Time Capsule, all I have to do is connect.

     

    I have a 2TB Time Capsule, so there is more than enough room to backup my 500MB internal HD and store my referenced masters.  I would rather use the attached drive to backup the masters if performance won't suffer with loading the referenced masters from the Time Capsule drive.

     

    I am going to give it a go and see how it works....

  • by Kirby Krieger,

    Kirby Krieger Kirby Krieger Oct 28, 2013 6:17 AM in response to aukirk
    Level 6 (12,522 points)
    Oct 28, 2013 6:17 AM in response to aukirk

    aukirk wrote:

     

    I have a 2TB Time Capsule, so there is more than enough room to backup my 500MB internal HD and store my referenced masters. 

    That depends on how far back in time you want Time Machine to go.  4x is certainly plenty of TM backup space.  Good luck!

  • by Frank Caggiano,

    Frank Caggiano Frank Caggiano Oct 28, 2013 6:21 AM in response to aukirk
    Level 7 (25,796 points)
    Oct 28, 2013 6:21 AM in response to aukirk

    I have a 2TB Time Capsule, so there is more than enough room to backup my 500MB internal HD and store my referenced masters.

    True just remember the referenced masters on the TC are not being backed up. Make sure you have another plan in place to back up the masters.

     

    regards