Permanently Locating PhotosLibrary onto Asustor Flashstor NAS

[HUGE AL]

Have read that Apple's proprietary stuff gets in the way of doing this and DID find this workaround:

How do you get Photos to work with a NAS … - Apple Community

discussions.apple.com

but the dude got flamed for just trying to be helpful.

Wondering if this is STILL not advised and if there are any strongly recommended alternatives.

Can't BELIEVE we STILL cannot put our stuff where we want to. 🙄

 

[HUGE AL]

Working with a Flashstor and now considering Asustor's photo organizational options. Would prefer to keep everything in Photos if possible to make things easier.

 

[mattspace]

AFIAK the photos library has to be located on an APFS formatted volume, which can be a problem for NAS systems. The workaround is sometimes to plug in an external USB drive formatted as APFS, which can be shared on the network - but it does kind of defeat the purpose of NAS volumes being redundant acoss multiple physical drives etc.

 

[HUGE AL]

AFIAK the photos library has to be located on an APFS formatted volume, which can be a problem for NAS systems. The workaround is sometimes to plug in an external USB drive formatted as APFS, which can be shared on the network - but it does kind of defeat the purpose of NAS volumes being redundant acoss multiple physical drives etc.

Yeah, I read that too. With the investment in the Flashstor, however, would prefer to keep the photo library on there somehow as that was one of the primary reasons for getting it.

Hoping someone has a suggestion on how best to handle this -- which could just be: Apple doesn't play nice and use another solution.

 

[mattspace]

Yeah, I read that too. With the investment in the Flashstor, however, would prefer to keep the photo library on there somehow as that was one of the primary reasons for getting it.

Hoping someone has a suggestion on how best to handle this -- which could just be: Apple doesn't play nice and use another solution.

Your choices are to either:

1. use a referenced library, which for Photos.app means you can't use iCloud Photos Sync, and you have to import the files to disk, THEN import to the photos library. you keep your media on the array, and the Photos library on your Mac, or
2. connect an APFS drive to the array, which is shared over the network, and keep all your photos on that.

"Keep my photos in a managed library on the Array's RAID drives" isn't an option. I spent literally a year researching synology options, before i decided to just get a 4TB SSD and install that inside my mac pro.

What is it you want from the array - the multi-drive redundancy, or the network ubiquity?

 

[Situationen]

Could one not create a disk image (preferably a sparse one) formatted in APFS on the NAS and in that image store the Photos library? Sure, you’ll need to mount the image each time or perhaps create a shortcut for it somehow.

Create a disk image using Disk Utility on Mac

Use Disk Utility on your Mac to create a disk image.

support.apple.com

I have done this to be able to store Photos libraries on my NAS. If possible with the primary one I do not know.

 

[mattspace]

Could one not create a disk image (preferably a sparse one) formatted in APFS on the NAS and in that image store the Photos library? Sure, you’ll need to mount the image each time or perhaps create a shortcut for it somehow.

Create a disk image using Disk Utility on Mac

Use Disk Utility on your Mac to create a disk image.

support.apple.com

I have done this to be able to store Photos libraries on my NAS. If possible with the primary one I do not know.

that's doable, but then you lose pretty much all the advantages of the array - bitrot protection, auto-versioning etc, and the Mac won't do Time Machine backups of a network volume, so then you need a separate versioning backup option, like Chronosync, or similar.

 

[v3rlon]

So Mac with permanent USB drive attached or a Mac Pro with additional storage are the 'easiest options?'
I really wish they would hurry up with the M3/M4 Mac Studio/Mac Pros

 

[mattspace]

So Mac with permanent USB drive attached or a Mac Pro with additional storage are the 'easiest options?'
I really wish they would hurry up with the M3/M4 Mac Studio/Mac Pros

That, or just pay Apple stupid amounts of money to get massive built in storage, if your library fits on it.

Otherwise, find a replacement for photos.app - have a serious consideration about whether you *need* the specific venn diagram of what photos.app does that other options can't do.

 

[v3rlon]

I can't find an easier way to share photos across all my devices as well as the devices of family and friends. I was going to try loading up everything into C1 Pro (or others) and then exporting only 'the good stuff' to Photos, but there is some disagreement about what qualifies as 'good stuff' with the Ministry of the Interior Design. She is strongly opposed to excluding any images.

Unless I want to pay a subscription on everyone's devices, Apple Photos is the way to go.

 

[mattspace]

I can't find an easier way to share photos across all my devices as well as the devices of family and friends. I was going to try loading up everything into C1 Pro (or others) and then exporting only 'the good stuff' to Photos, but there is some disagreement about what qualifies as 'good stuff' with the Ministry of the Interior Design. She is strongly opposed to excluding any images.

Unless I want to pay a subscription on everyone's devices, Apple Photos is the way to go.

If you didn't have the All Photos requirement, an option would be to have a selects folder in Finder, which then has a Hazel (or other workflow system) action that auto imports images to Photos when added to that folder, then you piggyback on its sharing functions from there.

But yes, sharing is difficult - a lot of NAS options provide photo library (even outside network sharing) functions, but you're interacting with your library through a web browser, like an animal.

 

[HUGE AL]

What is it you want from the array - the multi-drive redundancy, or the network ubiquity?

The Photos Library wont fit on this MacBook Pro, so I need to put it someplace else. Thought a NAS would solve this problem. Did not know Apple doesn't like playing nice with it.

I really wish they would hurry up with the M3/M4 Mac Studio/Mac Pros

You and me both. Their strategy for taking care of power users has always been baffling.

Otherwise, find a replacement for photos.app - have a serious consideration about whether you *need* the specific venn diagram of what photos.app does that other options can't do.

Yeah...I'm thinking it's easier to try out the Flashstor/Asustor photo storage app.