My iMac hard drive is slam full. I currently store all my RAW files on a FW800 external disk, but my LR database is on the main hard drive, for assumed performance reasons.

Anyone run both the LR database and images from an external drive? Any issues or performance troubles?

I *think* this would also allow me to use this same hard drive on my laptop, allowing LR edits from there (its a Quad i7 vs the iMac Core2Duo)

There's a good reason to move things around so the OS and application data isn't in the same place and that's performance.

Don't know about LR "sharing".

I couldn't imagine filling up my Mac HD. I run LR and numerous other apps. I keep my catalog on an external drive, and a copy in the cloud. If you keep your RAW files and catalog on a single external, you can plug it in anywhere and run LR with that data. I'd take care to make sure that's backed up at regular intervals though.

Originally Posted by perroneford I couldn't imagine filling up my Mac HD. I run LR and numerous other apps. I keep my catalog on an external drive, and a copy in the cloud. If you keep your RAW files and catalog on a single external, you can plug it in anywhere and run LR with that data. I'd take care to make sure that's backed up at regular intervals though.

Yeah I am fully backed up. My iMac only has a 250GB hard drive, but I have 3TB external. I have moved my iTunes library etc to external. I decided it wasn't worth it to crack the iMac open and put in a new drive with all the external space I have. Plus I will probably replace this machine next year.


Ian: are you suggesting that I would see better performance if my LR database was not on the same HD as OSX?

Originally Posted by cmason Ian: are you suggesting that I would see better performance if my LR database was not on the same HD as OSX?

I know you weren't asking me, but this has not been my experience. Common wisdom IS to separate these, and with good reason, but I often don't when I am running in the field, and it works just fine. I've run everything off my laptop when I needed to on deadline and it works great.

I just noticed that in fact, my LR database is not that big, but my previews db is 21GB. Maybe I can just scrap that or rebuild it

Check your catalog settings to insure you have Auto Discard 1:1 previews set to your liking. No need to keep them past 30 days, at least my use.

Originally Posted by jww Check your catalog settings to insure you have Auto Discard 1:1 previews set to your liking. No need to keep them past 30 days, at least my use.

Thanks, I have it set to discard after 30 days. I suspect its getting time to split my catalog, as I have images from 2005 in there.

As an experiment, I moved my LR database and preview cache to the external disk. I then alternated opening LR from each location, timing them to see the difference:

iMac: 12.3 sec, 6.4 sec, 6.4 sec
Firewire: 6.7 sec, 6.6 sec, 12.4 sec.

So, almost no difference, and something going on the Mac beyond LR seems to occasionally slow down the load, regardless of location of the database. This was repeated more than 3 times so I saw the 12 sec anomaly several times.

I then did my normal workflow with the LR database on the external Firewire drive. Imported 175 images, auto applied settings, generated standard previews, etc. I noticed no difference in performance, though my iMac was much quieter (lack of HD sounds). It seems as if running LR database from an external drive has no significant downsides that I can find. Will update if I run into anything odd.

[technical bits: iMac Core2Duo 2.16 GHz, 3GB RAM, 250 GB internal. External: FW800 attached 1 TB My Book Studio. Timings measured from click to launch to first visible image in LR ready to edit]

Originally Posted by cmason Thanks, I have it set to discard after 30 days. I suspect its getting time to split my catalog, as I have images from 2005 in there.

Possibly!

I've mentioned before in other threads that I generally make a new catalog for every event as I may have anywhere from 6000+ photos for a single event. I have a general one for other client shots and yet another for personal "pretty pics" and things that interest me.

I never notice any slowdowns (though my system is quite fast after my last upgrade) and much easier to achieve old events since they are all separate. I can also easily add those catalogs and photos to new drives as I add them to my system.

I do this all the time. That way my catalog is easy to transfer to other computers and other HDs

I dont necessarily have an external HDD, but I had two separate HDD in the desktop, separate from my SSD, for data and data only.

I didn't notice much speed differences at all.
I need to get a decent GPU besides what came factory, on my pre-built computer.. That should help with quicker rendering.

Originally Posted by babowc I I need to get a decent GPU besides what came factory, on my pre-built computer.. That should help with quicker rendering.

Unfortunately, LR doesn't use the GPU, so it won't impact it much. Photoshop does for several filters.

In his Lightroom workshops, Seth Resnick recommends having your catalog, preview, and images - all - on the same external drive, especially if you are using a laptop for your computer.

If your iMac has a Thunderbolt port, then find a Thunderbolt drive and it will be as fast as your main drive is.

If your catalog, previews and images files are all on the same external drive, then they are all easy to find, Back up, or transport from computer to computer without worrying if you have all the files you need to run Lightroom in a new location.

THis is how I do my files for Lightroom, and I currently have >67,000 stored images in my data base tonight. My external drive is eSata, but when Thunderbolt is availabe in a tower, I will move to that. Maybe next spring, maybe??....

Originally Posted by cmason Unfortunately, LR doesn't use the GPU, so it won't impact it much. Photoshop does for several filters.

Ah.. I did not know that!
Thank you for that :)
I guess I can keep my GPU

I have all my photos backed up to my NAS on my network and have my Lightroom catalog replicated between my desktop and notebook using Dropbox.

The previews db can be deleted and it will be regenerated when you next run LR, this is what I do to keep my catalog under my 2.2GB dropbox limit.

Originally Posted by pathfinder In his Lightroom workshops, Seth Resnick recommends having your catalog, preview, and images - all - on the same external drive, especially if you are using a laptop for your computer.

Interesting, so rather than doing something weird, for a change I am actually following best practice .

My (work) Macbook Pro laptop has Thunderbolt, but not the iMac. Unfortunately, the iMac has the fully calibrated (non-reflective) IPS screen, the laptop does not. So I have a blazing fast laptop with a crap screen, and a pig slow desktop with a stunning screen. Plus the laptop is a work laptop, and I want to avoid too much personal stuff, though having all of LR on external disk fits this model perfectly. Wish my iMac supported Target Screen Mode.

My tower has a 256 GB SSD for the main boot drive, and it has 120 Gb free space.

The only things I have on my boot drive is OS 10.7, all my apps including CS3,4,5 and LR 1,2, 3,4. All my images, catalogs, preview, and iTunes files are on an external drive.

FWIW, I import to my main HDD and once all my main edits are done, I move the directory to an external NAS RAID. Editing from the RAID isn't as crisp as local since the GigE isn't as fast as other connects, but it keeps the main HDD from getting too cluttered.

Originally Posted by pathfinder My tower has a 256 GB SSD for the main boot drive, and it has 120 Gb free space. The only things I have on my boot drive is OS 10.7, all my apps including CS3,4,5 and LR 1,2, 3,4. All my images, catalogs, preview, and iTunes files are on an external drive.

Why do you still have LR 1 & 2? I think I can understand why you might want to keep LR3, but why the Legacy versions???