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managing photo library

M

majkom

macrumors 68020
Original poster
May 3, 2011
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Guys, I am looking for functional model how to keep ever growing photo library archived and available to my mac. Now I got macbook pro last intel gen, will probably buy some apple silicon mac (mini/mb air) but dont want to spend bilions for apple SSD as only reason to go over 512 is storing photo library elsewhere not only in icloud. And have no idea how to do that, because even spending billions for internal drive will just postpone the problem, as library is growing each day (btw, this will be 2 accounts computer, so 2 libraries actually).

Been thinkig - mac mini, maybe external SSD where library is located? or maybe just exported as backup from time to time? BUT - what if i choose mac laptot instead of mini? And what happens if by chance usb-c ssd drive is pulled out of mac - does it kill whole library
NAS - synology does have some service running on their NASes to archive photo library?
Anything else..

how do you cope with ever growing photo libraries??
 
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I maintain multiple photo libraries using PowerPhotos. They (the libraries) sit on an attached SSD for access speed - this SSD is mirrored to the NAS. Generally only recent photos reside on the MacBook.
 
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The scenario I’m leaning toward is a Mac mini with a USB-C 4.0 enclosure containing an SSD. The Photos libraries will be stored there, and because all the original photos will be kept locally, I’ll be able to create local backups of the entire library using the Photos app. So I’ll have the iCloud library in Apple’s cloud, another copy on the external USB-C drive, and local backups done manually — or maybe via Time Machine. Does this make sense?

EDIT: The more I think about it, I realize the problem I want to solve is how to regularly back up my iCloud Photo Library without having to download the originals into my primary Photos library on my Mac.
Is there any way to create an archive directly to an external drive (without messing with Photos libraries on the Mac—creating new ones, copying files around, etc.)?
 
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majkom said:
Been thinkig - mac mini, maybe external SSD where library is located?
Click to expand...

Sure. I do that with my MacBooks. Using Photos as not needing any fancy editing capabilities.

I don't need 24/7 access to photos so no problem only plugging in when needed. Periodically copy the library via "rsync" command to other external drives for backup purposes.
 
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NoBoMac said:
Sure. I do that with my MacBooks. Using Photos as not needing any fancy editing capabilities.

I don't need 24/7 access to photos so no problem only plugging in when needed. Periodically copy the library via "rsync" command to other external drives for backup purposes.
Click to expand...
Hold down the Option key and open Photos. That will show you where it is and how to create, copy and make a new one in a new location.
 
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majkom said:
EDIT: The more I think about it, I realize the problem I want to solve is how to regularly back up my iCloud Photo Library without having to download the originals into my primary Photos library on my Mac.
Click to expand...

in Photos on your Mac you can go into settings and enable "Optimise Mac Storage". That way, only a smaller thumbnail-style picture is kept locally.
 
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