Yesterday I returned from Tankfest with about 80GB of pictures and when trying to import them to Lightroom I realized that I don't have enough space on my hard drives to copy them to my computer. I have been thinking about buying a proper storage for quite some time but money went always to something more interesting (understand some new lens).
My current storage approach is really terrible but it worked for me so I used it for 5+ years. I'm using two 2TB drives (they may be about 6-7 years old now). One is master, second is backup. They are not in RAID. My computer is 10 years old and I didn't use its SW RAID provided by motherboard utilities. I'm doing backups manually since I'm also applying some logic in my backups (processed folders go to different place than those not processed yet). Those drives are mostly used for photo storage. Most of photos stored there are garbage which are waiting to be processed but that is another story - right now they have to be stored.
Since my computer is 10 years old (Windows desktop), it has other limitations - no USB 3.0, no SATA 3, etc. I could just put a new disk to my computer and continue with the way how I was doing things for past few years but I'm also considering replacing the computer this or next year and having photos stored on external device would simplify migration later. It would also open possibility to go for laptop instead of desktop.
I expect NAS storage to solve my problem with space and provide me very reliable automatic backup mechanism. I would also expect it to be significantly faster than just single disk but also significantly more expensive. I don't really care much about all the video transcoding and server features modern NAS storages provide. I think my requirements are:
- 4 bay
- 1Gb Ethernet (1 have 1Gb network at home) - 2 ports are better
- Support for M.2 SSD module - I will add it in the future as cache
- Not sure how performant it should be but most of devices in this category are 4 core and can have up to 8GB RAM
- It should have USB 3.0
- It should work with both Windows and Mac
It looks like best match are Synology DS918+ and QNAP TS-423Be although they seem to be bit overkill. They support many more features I don't need.
I would configure it with 4x4TB or 4x6TB WD Red or Seagate IronWolf drives. Even 16TB (about 8TB real storage) should cover me for years.
It is also good to point out, that this is not my business. I'm just enthusiasts and this is my hobby. I never made a penny by photography yet.
What are your experiences with NAS storage and accessing RAW photos from Lightroom over network?
Before someone asks why just not to use use cloud storage?
- I'm using cloud storage as backup for processed photos which are usually about 10-20% of what I shot.
- I would still want local copy.
- I have asymmetric Internet connection - fast downloads, slow uploads. Trying to upload 80GB would take ages and would be best way to end up with fair use policy clause in the contract.