Lightroom Catalog and Backup Locations-Opinions Please.

[Mahombi]

I would be grateful for opinions please, on the best arrangement and locations for my Lightroom catalog and catalog backups.

My current arrangement (on a Mac Pro desktop) is as follows:

My image library and LR catalog are located together on a separate drive within the Mac. (by that I mean, separate from the primary drive.)

My Catalog Backups are on my primary drive along with the system files, applications (e.g. Lightroom) and data.

All drives have multiple backups performed regularly.

My intention in the near future, is to install an SSD and move the system and apps onto it, whilst keeping the data on the original primary drive. I will modify my backup strategy to account for this.

So I guess I am really asking the following questions:

1. Should I move the Lightroom backups to the new SSD, or keep them on the current primary drive?
2. Should I separate the the Catalog from the image library?
3. Would switching the locations of the Catalog and the Catalog Backups round be a better alternative?
4. Would completely different arrangement be better an what should that be?

I know there are opposing arguments about separating data from system files, so we don't need to go down that avenue.

Thanks in advance and I look forward to opinions.

 

[Johan Elzenga]

To get the best speed, you should place your catalog on the fastest disk. That means it makes no sense to place catalog backups on the SSD and run the catalog from a spinning disk. Do it the other way round: put the catalog on the SSD and make the catalog backups to the spinning disk.

 

[Linwood Ferguson]

The built-in catalog backup is badly named in some ways, it is not exactly a backup.

The reason I say that is that it leads some people to think they have backed up their images -- not true at all. But it also leads people to think running it, even to a second disk, is adequate. It is not. Everything should be backed up at some point off-computer, and preferably also off-site. A good example of why is ransomware -- a backup, even on a separate disk, is no protection if it's online.

I just leave the LR catalog backups on the same disk. If it crashes (unlikely, it's raid, but it could) I need to recover the images anyway, might as well recover the catalog at the same time, and it's one less thing to think about putting back together.

And if I'm backing up that disk (and I am) then I do not really need to backup the catalog separately to disk (I do, but it's not that important for backup purposes).

To me the real purpose in the LR catalog backup is more about running the optimize and integrity check regularly to flush out any problems. Check it regularly.

Honestly, if people did a good job of a standard system backup, they could run the LR Catalog backup and just delete the resulting copy and still be covered. But most people do not, and doing a LR catalog backup is better than nothing.

But concentrate on your regular backup as a priority.

 

[Mahombi]

Thanks for your input both.

So, Johan, you ar saying that I should separate the Catalog from the image files?

Mahombi

 

[Johan Elzenga]

So, Johan, you ar saying that I should separate the Catalog from the image files?

Yes, in this case that makes sense. The Lightroom catalog should be on your fastest disk if possible, because Lightroom reads and writes extensively to and from the catalog. It does not have to read the images that often, because in most cases it uses the previews (in the catalog folder). Only during editing it needs the original image, so placing these images on another disk will not affect the speed very much.

 

[Diko]

OK. I have a question. I currently have a system FAST SSD 512GB. I have a workhorse 1TB "slower" SSD. I do my PS and LR work there. That means all my DNG files (I convert all my cr2 files to DNG in order to squeeze max speeds) are on that SSD drive.

At some point the photo projects are getting old. And don't need them on that SSD drive.

What are the exact steps to move the whole lrcat and images to another HDD drive for me to obtain ONLY if needed for export (without the extensive labor I input in the prime development)?

Please advice. Thank you in advance.

 

[Linwood Ferguson]

I would suggest leaving the catalog on the SSD, and moving just the images to the slower drive. The simple way is drag and drop it inside of lightroom; it will move the folders and update all the links automagically.

 

[Diko]

Yep. Thanks!

Here's a good video on the subject. Please note that one should create the folder in order the other hard drive to be visible. Otherwise it will not get added to the LR folder listing.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BI1HGAZiYkI

Terry WHite is always a good source.