Moving image files from HD to Synology NAS for both LR6 & C1Pro

[Baxter]

I've recently bought a 4 Bay Synology drive, set up as RAID 5. Currently I'm using it for Time Machine backups. I'd like to use it to store all my image files too and then use this with Cloud back-up. The NAS and iMac are connected via ethernet cabling through a Gigabit TP-Link Router.

Since I use both LR and Capture One Pro v8 for different aspects of my photography, my current thinking is that it's probably best to copy all the images in their existing folder structure across to the NAS so that the C1 folders automatically produced within each folder are copied too.

Then once this is done & I've verified all are there, delete the folders on my HD and then use missing folder routine in LR6. I use sessions in C1Pro, so would need to repoint the session to the NAS folder structure, or possibly start a new session. This stage does fill me with dread!

Are there any problems with the above? Are there more effective/alternative ways of doing this please?

[JaapD]

To begin with the last: no need to start a new session, just go to the folder on the NAS, doubleclick on the db file and the complete session opens.

Are you going to use the Synology Cloud Station as backup? With this your NAS becomes a cloud storage device where it syncs data files between 2 folders/locations. If doing so you’ll have EVERYTHING (the originals as well as the backup) on one and the same device, right? I would strongly suggest you not to do so and use a completely different device as backup. A raid storage is not an alternative for a backup.

Before you start with this: first make a backup and put it away safely.

[Baxter]

I haven't set up Cloudstation yet Jaap. I've been recommended to use Amazon Prime's unlimited storage for the Cloud location. However I wanted to get it all up and running with folder structure & software before starting the cloud back-up there.

I've also got an old Drobo which I use for Time Machine. Recently this failed, hence the Synology. Turns out it was the Drobo power supply; I gambled £15 on a 3rd party one and this fixed it. It's currently at 79% full and only option I have is to swap the last 1GB HD in it for a 2GB one. It's so old (Feb 09) and not supported any longer by Drobo, that I needed to ensure I had something current.

Thanks for the heads up on C1 Session.

[hjulenissen]

I have got a 4-bay Synology drive, Windows and Lightroom.

Lightroom does not like to work against a .lrcat file located on the NAS. My solution was to use a script that:
1) Copies the .lrcat file from the NAS every time I start up Lightroom
2) Backup the local .lrcat to my NAS everytime I exit Lightroom.

This way, I can access the same database from two different computers (importantly, only one ever gets to "write" to the shared resources, the other is only for browsing). And when I backup my NAS periodically, I am certain that I am backing up everything that matters (computer "terminals" keep only replacable things like OS and applications).

I have 2x2TB + 2x4TB. I have had one 2TB disk fail (well, it reported possible issues to Synology and the NAS refused to start). Luckily I had RAID. Backup of my NAS is a purely manual dump to external USB drive kept at my office. I have looked into automated "cloud" backup but have never gotten around to setting it up.

-h

[Baxter]

Thanks for your input H.

I'd heard it was best to keep LR Catalogue on computer, hence my idea about using 'missing folder' routine. I can't envisage wanting to use more than main iMac to view & work on images (it's a twin monitor set-up). When I go away on a trip, I take MBP & have routine for transferring new image files once I return.

The Adobe preferred way of doing this is to move files to new location within the Catalogue as shown in video, however I realise this wouldn't take the all important C1 folders with it. Having down several web searches, there's nothing I found that resembles my situation. My fault wanting to use both RAW processors I suppose!

I might need to investigate script option.

Sorry to hear about HD fail, but good that RAID did what it should. It's why we're taking such measures to protect our work.

[jduncan]

I've recently bought a 4 Bay Synology drive, set up as RAID 5. Currently I'm using it for Time Machine backups. I'd like to use it to store all my image files too and then use this with Cloud back-up. The NAS and iMac are connected via ethernet cabling through a Gigabit TP-Link Router.

Since I use both LR and Capture One Pro v8 for different aspects of my photography, my current thinking is that it's probably best to copy all the images in their existing folder structure across to the NAS so that the C1 folders automatically produced within each folder are copied too.

Then once this is done & I've verified all are there, delete the folders on my HD and then use missing folder routine in LR6. I use sessions in C1Pro, so would need to repoint the session to the NAS folder structure, or possibly start a new session. This stage does fill me with dread!

Are there any problems with the above? Are there more effective/alternative ways of doing this please?

Hi,

My few cents: I love synology, but I am not sure that the network will have the bandwidth for you to edit from the NAS.  I prefer to have a thunderbolt box   (in my case Lacie, even with all the horror stories) and use the synology as a local backup. The synology is a unix box, from there I can do a encrypted copy to a different location, or in your case to the cloud.

If you want to have a single box at home, you could take this one into account :
http://www.bhphotovideo.com/c/product/1184475-REG/qnap_tvs_871t_i5_16g_us_tvs_871t_8_bay_thunderbolt_2.html

And here is a "review". Please notice that he is not a tech guy, the thunderbolt connection do work with windows:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FnvzJwdillI

He uses Lightroom like you.

Expanding storage on a qnap is far more involved than the synology, and the synology is less flexible than the drobo, but it's not complicated.
If you create your volume as a SHR or SHR2, it will take few clicks. It may be possible to change types after the fact but I don't have any experience doing so. The qnap expansion is also done via web, it's just more steps and questions. I notice that you wrote a script, if you are a linux/unix guy  you are going to enjoy this boxes,.

Both the synology and the qnap provide integration with cloud services, and both of them can run virtualization services and provide encryption and transcoding (video).

Hope it helps,

Best regards,



 

[mdelrossi]

I agree with jduncan, the nat isn't the place I store my working files.
I have them on a Thunderbolt Raid0 that is continuously baked up to the Sinology nat and then backed top to a separate external of which I have 2 , one off site and I rotate them. Paranoid? Who me? As the saying goes just cause I'm paranoid doesn't mean that they aren't out to get me
Sinology is a great nas, but I wouldn't want to use it as my main working drive. When 10Gige becomes the norm then it might make sense , till then, direct connected hard drives are your best bet.
YMMV
Good luck
mdr

[Baxter]

The NAS and iMac are directly connected by cable using ethernet ports as I mentioned previously. I have a friend who uses similar set-up & finds image editing no problem with these connections. However he only uses LR, hence the nature of this post to ask about the best procedure to go about getting image files onto NAS and then ensuring that all my previous editing work, adjustments etc are then not lost by the change of location for the RAW files. I've had the situation regarding C1 files clarified by JaapD, click and I'm away; so it's down to best way to handle the location change for LR catalogue.

Intention is to make a small LR catalogue and do trial deletion of only one set of folders from iMac HD, then use find folder procedure.

I really don't want to buy any more gear, despite your recommendations!

[hjulenissen]

My few cents: I love synology, but I am not sure that the network will have the bandwidth for you to edit from the NAS. 

Hoping that me and my links did not mess up Mb and MB here :-)

I have cabled gigabit ethernet in my house. That is 1000 Mbps nominally.

Newer Synology 4 drive solutions seems to have a real-world performance in the order of 800 Mbps:
http://www.anandtech.com/show/8659/synology-ds415-review-dsm-on-intel-rangeley/3

The raw single hd performance of state of the art NAS-oriented spinning drives seems to be around 1400 Mbps (average sequential read or write):
http://www.anandtech.com/show/9606/wd-red-pro-6-tb-review-a-nas-hdd-for-the-performance-conscious/3

When Lightroom feels "sluggish", it this (mainly) due to disk load or processing? I dont know.

I am not convinced that the performance gap between a decent NAS and local spinning drives is enormous. I do believe that you should have a sufficiently large SSD for doing local cache on your computer.

-h

[JaapD]

When I’m working on a project I have my C1 session on a fast local PCIE SSD. When I’m finished I move the complete session over to my Synology NAS.

When it’s then on the NAS I work from there. It is slower because of the 800Mbit/s (~100Mbyte/s) real world network bandwidth but you decide if this bothers you. Keep in mind that harddisks are only faster then this when moving lage portions of data and they do not perform well with smaller data blocks. In my opinion the difference between a Raid-5 NAS and a local single harddisk is very insignificant.