bluecool
Level 1 (1 points)

Q: relocating the library file to ext. HD for more space

Hello,

I think I need to move the 237GB library file to an external FW800 drive to open space on my internal drive.  Will Aperture have trouble finding the library? Will this create productivity problems in future?

 

Also, is a 237GB library file considered average, large, unreasonable?  I know "it depends" on many factors, but if the size of the library is slowing behavior and processing I want to decrease it.

 

Thanks

Posted on Dec 16, 2013 12:46 PM

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bluecool

Q: relocating the library file to ext. HD for more space

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  • by léonie,

    léonie léonie Dec 16, 2013 2:14 PM in response to bluecool
    Level 10 (108,884 points)
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    Dec 16, 2013 2:14 PM in response to bluecool

    I think I need to move the 237GB library file to an external FW800 drive to open space on my internal drive.  Will Aperture have trouble finding the library? Will this create productivity problems in future?

    You can move your library to an external drive, no problem. Just make sure, the drive is formatted for Mac as MacOS Extended (Journaled) and directly connected. See this support article:

    Use locally mounted Mac OS X Extended volumes for your Aperture library

     

    To move the library, repair it as a precaution (see: Aperture 3 User Manual: Repairing and Rebuilding Your Aperture Library) and make a current backup, just in case.

     

    Then drag the library to the external drive using the Finder.

     

    Double-click the copy of the library on the external drive. This will point Aperture to the new library and open it in Aperture.  Test the library, if all transferred well.

    if you are satisfied that all copied over well, you can delete the library from the internal drive.

     

    Will this create productivity problems in future?

     

    No,it will not. Only make sure, that you also make backups of the library on the external drive.

    Also, is a 237GB library file considered average, large, unreasonable?  I know "it depends" on many factors, but if the size of the library is slowing behavior and processing I want to decrease it.

    That is a moderately sized library. The larger the library, the longer basic maintainance like upgrading, repairing, rebuilding, backup  will take. For a library size beyond 1 TB rebuilding might take a whole day, and then it would be time to think about splitting the library.

     

    But when working with the library the size of the library should not matter. I found that other thing may slow Aperture down a little, like too many smart albums with a scope of the whole library, or very large projects, or if disk space is getting low. Try to keep at least 20GB of disk space free on your system drive.

     

    Regards

    Léonie

  • by bluecool,

    bluecool bluecool Dec 16, 2013 3:22 PM in response to léonie
    Level 1 (1 points)
    Dec 16, 2013 3:22 PM in response to léonie

    Thanks for the prompt and detailed response. 

    How long should expect/allow a repair to take?

     

    Regarding back ups, I have been letting TimeMachine do my HD to a 2TB, via fw800. I don't know if I could ever access the library from a timemachine back up.  As another precaution I make regular copies of my Aperature, iPhoto and iTunes libaries, and a folder of large video files to a separate ext 500GB.  I just drag and drop,  writing over the old files.

     

    Thanks

  • by léonie,

    léonie léonie Dec 16, 2013 4:15 PM in response to bluecool
    Level 10 (108,884 points)
    iCloud
    Dec 16, 2013 4:15 PM in response to bluecool

    How long should expect/allow a repair to take?

    That will depend on the particular library and is hard to say. Repairing needed between a few minutes and more than an hours on my libraries with a comparable size. Be prepred to let it run for quite some time. So don't start the repair, when you are in a hurry to get back into Aperture.

     

    I don't know if I could ever access the library from a timemachine back up.

    To work with a library in a TM backup, you have to restore it from the backup using Time Machine.