Lightroom organizing files with catalog

[mavericks7913]

I've been using LR for at least 5 years and I used 2 external HDD so far but only one catalog. Yes, half images can not be seen if I use other HDD.

I start wondering about my organizing files in LR. I have all images from the beginning so it is hard to back up all files at once and adding another HDD will be a quite challenge.

So I was thinking about having different catalog base on the year. Backing up files is not hard since I just put all files base on year, date, theme, and etc. I just worry about the catalog being too big and hard to organize because of separated HDD.

Any thought?

 

[robgendreau]

People use some huge catalogs with Lr. And I don't quite understand why you can only use one HDD at once. I use about four with one catalog at the same time. And all get backed up via TM to another bigger drive. Perhaps we need some more details about what you do for backup and why you can only use one HDD.

 

[mavericks7913]

People use some huge catalogs with Lr. And I don't quite understand why you can only use one HDD at once. I use about four with one catalog at the same time. And all get backed up via TM to another bigger drive. Perhaps we need some more details about what you do for backup and why you can only use one HDD.

I don't have any NAS or something similar. It's just an external HDD. The first HDD is being kept and the second one is being use. Both HDD share one catalog. To be specific, from 2008 to 2015 images are in the first HDD and other images from 2015 to 2016 are in the 2nd one. Having only one catalog seem to be quite difficult to keep all files since I can not access to those files if I don't connect HDDs at once.

Getting NAS or raid system is very expansive and can't afford it. If I buy classic Mac Pro, it might be possible to have raid HDD system but until then, my catalog will be separated between each HDDs.

 

[NeGRit0]

Why cant you plug in both external HDDs at the same time?

 

[robgendreau]

Why cant you plug in both external HDDs at the same time?

Yeah, if they are USB and you only have one port just get a hub. There's not any reason I can think of to NOT have have them mounted at the same time. You could have even more than two at once. I use at least four or five at once. Lr has no problem with that, nor does the system. You don't need a RAID to do that.

 

[mavericks7913]

Yeah, if they are USB and you only have one port just get a hub. There's not any reason I can think of to NOT have have them mounted at the same time. You could have even more than two at once. I use at least four or five at once. Lr has no problem with that, nor does the system. You don't need a RAID to do that.

Didn't mentioned that the first one is totally full. There is no reason to plug in it to my computer. Also, I need to start backup my whole files so I really need raid HDD. I already have 10tb for total. Also, if I start backing up all files, it will be too complicate to organize and access to LR catalog.

 

[MCAsan]

Sounds like two raid sets are needed. One set is for your data library, including the folded of images. The second raid set is for Time Machine or CCC to use to do backups.

 

[robgendreau]

Didn't mentioned that the first one is totally full. There is no reason to plug in it to my computer. Also, I need to start backup my whole files so I really need raid HDD. I already have 10tb for total. Also, if I start backing up all files, it will be too complicate to organize and access to LR catalog.

Huh? So are you talking only about backup? so that the full external you're talking about is a collection of duplicates??

I don't see a need for a RAID. First, a RAID isn't necessarily a backup. Second, you could just keep filling externals and then backing each one up. Say 10TB of images spread over 2 external USB 3 HDDs (don't confuse a multibay, which might be nice for organizing space on a desktop, with a RAID). Then just use archiving software to back up each one using the 3-2-1 principle. And Lr could catalog all 10TB from both drives, and if both are connected you could see any image any time.

If you have no reason to look at the images up to 2015, the easy solution, of course, is to delete them and repurpose the drive.

 

[mavericks7913]

Huh? So are you talking only about backup? so that the full external you're talking about is a collection of duplicates??

I don't see a need for a RAID. First, a RAID isn't necessarily a backup. Second, you could just keep filling externals and then backing each one up. Say 10TB of images spread over 2 external USB 3 HDDs (don't confuse a multibay, which might be nice for organizing space on a desktop, with a RAID). Then just use archiving software to back up each one using the 3-2-1 principle. And Lr could catalog all 10TB from both drives, and if both are connected you could see any image any time.

If you have no reason to look at the images up to 2015, the easy solution, of course, is to delete them and repurpose the drive.

I will not delete any images. All of them are RAW files that I kept since 2008. Without raid, how am I suppose to backup all files in same time. LR catalog need to be exactly same but if I back up catalog, then it won't be same catalogs.

 

[robgendreau]

I will not delete any images. All of them are RAW files that I kept since 2008. Without raid, how am I suppose to backup all files in same time. LR catalog need to be exactly same but if I back up catalog, then it won't be same catalogs.

I'm still not sure about what you're doing. But you could have five 5 TB drives full of images, for example, hooked up all at once to your computer and always available via Lr to view the images. No big deal there.

To back them up you have various choices. What you do depends on the type of backup and what software you choose to use. You could use a script that would use say Carbon Copy Cloner to make an archive of each of those five drives to another set of five drives on a schedule that runs say at night, and that can copy them to say the cloud or wherever else you want to keep archives. Backups do NOT all have to reside on the same hard drive. You can backup Drive A to Drive A Backup, and Drive b to Drive B Backup. Ideally, to Drive B Backup 1 AND Drive B Backup 2, with 2 stored off site.

And you could use just Time Machine to back up the one catalog for that if it's on your boot drive. Ideally you'd use TM on the backup catalogs Lr creates (which I assume you're doing) so you'd always have a current catalog backed up. It doesn't have to be on the same backup as the backup for the photos themselves.