External storage recommendation for photos app editing - USB-C? SSD required or HDD enough?

[helix21]

Hi,

I am an amateur photographer. I have an iMac 5k which I absolutely love to use for photo editing. However, it only has a 512GB SSD, and now have to rely on "optimise storage", which I find infuriating. So the plan is to get an external hard drive and then edit of that. With that in mind the main questions I have are:

1. Connection: I am going to stick to USB-C - I suspect this will give me more than enough of a data transfer rate
2. Is an external SSD required or can I get away with a 7200rpm hard drive with USB-C?
3. Anyone with real-world experience of how well this works? Is it laggy?

I found the constant worrying about space so annoying and iCloud totally unpredictable. So I switched to Lightroom, but that comes with its own headache. Now I want to move back to Photos - I pay for 2TB storage anyways so it just makes sense.

 

[Darmok N Jalad]

USB-C is more than fast enough, even with SATA SSD storage. You’d need to be using PCIe storage to need Thunderbolt. Personally, I’d try to go with SSD storage, especially for external—no moving parts, faster speeds. What I don’t know is how you will split this up between internal and external storage with Photos, or are you talking about just using the external drive for Photos?

 

[helix21]

USB-C is more than fast enough, even with SATA SSD storage. You’d need to be using PCIe storage to need Thunderbolt. Personally, I’d try to go with SSD storage, especially for external—no moving parts, faster speeds. What I don’t know is how you will split this up between internal and external storage with Photos, or are you talking about just using the external drive for Photos?

Entirely external on my iMac - so in reality it would never leave my desk.

Thanks, it seems like I can get a 4TB HDD for the price of a 1TB SSD for around £110. I will look out for a few offers then pony up for the SSD. I think in the long run it'll be a better option anyways.

 

[kallisti]

I have my LR library on an external SSD. It works extremely well. Very fast importing, editing, saving, and exporting. I had a backup of my external SSD drive on a 7200rpm HDD and whenever I was cloning the SSD for a backup it was an order of magnitude slower compared to an SSD drive. I finally ditched the HDD in favor of another external SSD drive.

I never worked with files off of the HDD, so I can't comment on using a 7200rpm HDD for editing. But the SSD drives are much, much faster and work really well for LR--similar to using the internal SSD drive. One major advantage of external drives is that you can always upgrade to a larger external drive as the size of your photo library increases without the need to upgrade your computer. A big advantage for me using a rMBP, but also applicable to your iMac .

 

[chscag]

Something to keep in mind is that regardless of whether you go with a SSD (recommended) or SATA HDD, you will need to make sure you have a backup of whatever you place on that external drive.

 

[kallisti]

Something to keep in mind is that regardless of whether you go with a SSD (recommended) or SATA HDD, you will need to make sure you have a backup of whatever you place on that external drive.

Just as you should when using an internal drive.... Carbon copy cloner (or something similar) is your friend .

 

[jz0309]

Similar to @kallisti I have my LR originals (~ 75k, ~600GB both jpg and raw) on an external 1TB SSD connected via USB-C, but my index (~ 160GB) is on the internal 1 TB SSD. I have no complaints about speed.
When I run out of space I will take a close look at TB3, will need to be at least 4TB and hopefully in 1-2 years prices will come down (one can dream and hope )

 

[Fishrrman]

"Is an external SSD required or can I get away with a 7200rpm hard drive with USB-C?"

USBc gains NOTHING for you in an external HDD. Nothing. Zero.
The "speed" is limited to the drive (platter based HDDs are slow).

"Connection: I am going to stick to USB-C - I suspect this will give me more than enough of a data transfer rate"

Not really. It will MAKE NO DIFFERENCE for many SSDs that you use, including just about all 2.5" SATA SSDs in external enclosures.

About the only scenarios where USBc becomes advantageous:
- USB3.1 gen2 enclosure with nvme drive inside
- thunderbolt3 drive (but these are EXPENSIVE and run HOT).

My recommendations:
SCENARIO 1:
(Read speeds about 420-430MBps)
Buy a ready-to-go USB3 drive, such as Samsung t5.
or
Buy a 2.5" SATA "bare" SSD of your choice, and put it into an enclosure like this:

SABRENT 2.5 Inch SATA to USB 3.0 Tool Free External Hard Drive Enclosure [Optimized for SSD, Support UASP SATA III] Black (EC-UASP)

SABRENT 2.5 Inch SATA to USB 3.0 Tool Free External Hard Drive Enclosure [Optimized for SSD, Support UASP SATA III] Black (EC-UASP)

tinyurl.com

SCENARIO 2:
(Read speeds about 965MBps)
Buy an nvme drive of your choice, something like this:

Silicon Power 1TB - NVMe M.2 PCIe Gen3x4 2280 SSD (SP001TBP34A60M28)

Silicon Power 1TB - NVMe M.2 PCIe Gen3x4 2280 TLC SSD (SP001TBP34A60M28)

www.amazon.com

And put it into an enclosure like this:

ORICO M.2 SATA B+M/B Key SSD Enclosure USB 3.1 Type C 5Gbps External Solid State Enclosure Adapter for 2280/2260/2242/2230 M.2 NGFF SSD 4TB Max, NOT Supoort PCIe NVMe/AHCI M.2 SSD-Black

12 MONTHS FREE REPLACEMENT AND LIFETIME TECHNICAL SUPPORT: If there was any problem with the products from ORICO Direct Store, please contact us, you will get a free-replacement within 12 months.

www.amazon.com

Note: I think the newly released Samsung t7 is using an nvme internal drive to produce reads around 960+MBps (not sure about this)

SCENARIO 3 (best choice):
Put together an nvme drive (as in scenario 2). This becomes your "primary external storage" drive).
then...
Get a second USB3 drive as in scenario 1.
Use CarbonCopyCloner or SuperDuper to routinely clone the contents of your primary storage drive to your "primary external storage BACKUP drive".
The backup now exists as an EXACT COPY of the original source.

Now you have much better PROTECTION if your primary drive fails.
(but hey -- it's never gonna fail -- right? Right....?)

 

[Ray2]

Some approaches for consideration:
1) Move the files that take up space but don’t need speed to the external. iTunes/Music folder, Photos library, video, etc.
2) Keep LR catalogs and “current” image folders on your ssd and “past” image folders on an external. In other words, keep what you’re editing on the internal.
3) I’d keep your Lightroom catalogs on the internal. You’re far less likely to rename or eject the internal than an external. You’re far more likely to backup your internal than an external. I keep my main catalog on the internal. Images for that catalog are on the internal (current) and multiple ssd externals (Thunderbolt but usb-c works fine).
4) If mobility is a criteria, it’s nice to grab a clone of an internal that contains the Adobe apps, catalogs and “current” image files. Once the catalog moves to an external, it’s another drive that needs to be dealt with.
5) If you’re looking at 2.5” externals, seriously don’t even look at spinners. It’s quite difficult these days to find non-PMR platter drives. Above 2TB, I don’t believe non-PMR exists anymore. PMR drives are cheap, dead slow junk. In seeking cost reduction (aka executive comp), the Seagates of the world are doing a superb job chasing us into the arms of the ssd manufacturers.