Sharing catalog files on nas...best pratices?

[natas]

So I have my new nas setup at the house. Can anyone give me an idea of what I need to do to have both my computers use this nas? I have moved all my files over from computer 1 to the nas. Computer 2 (laptop) now needs access to the files. So I am guessing I need to copy the catalog over to the laptop. Is this the right way to do this?

Also what happens if I edit the file from computer 1? Do those changes show up on computer 2, or is that data stored somewhere in the catalog?

[Wayne Fox]

You could copy the catalog file to the NAS when you are finished with it, and then copy it to the computer you are using when you want to use it again. Of course it can easily get a little large to make that practical.

I believe you can access the images from two different catalog files, and if you enable .xmp sidecar files the changes can be read in by the other catalog file.  You won't get the history.  I suppose there is some chance of accidentally changing things to the point you couldn't get back to a previous state. I know a studio that works this way ... multiple catalogs accessing the image files over a network.

Personally I find working with networked images too slow, so I opt for small portable raids that can be connected directly to the computer I'm using at the time.  This backs up to a pair of large raids whenever I connect the small raid to my main workstation.  The catalog file as well as the Lightroom settings and all other needed files such as Photoshop droplets are located on the raid so I can hook this up to pretty much any computer that has Lightroom (or install Lightroom from my Adobe account) and use it.

[Schewe]

So I have my new nas setup at the house. Can anyone give me an idea of what I need to do to have both my computers use this nas?

What speed? Gigabit? Using a network switch and managed network or a router? As Wayne says, yes you can do it to a point...but do you really want to?

Lightroom is a single user application so while you CAN place the images on the network drive and access the images from multiple computers, you CAN'T have the LR catalog on the server and access it from multiple computers. What that means is if you really want to access the same images from the same catalog from multiple computers, you're gonna have to figure out a way of moving that catalog back and forth to the 2 computers. Last update wins (the older catalog looses).

Really, what you think you want to do, you really don't want to do...(and can't).

And if you aren't running a switch managed gig network, you'll regret going down this rabbit hole–seriously it will be painful with anything other than a really fast network connection (meaning forget WiFi of any flavor).

You would be better off picking one of the computers to use as your "Lightroom computer" and give it the local fast connected drives (eSATA or at a minimum USB 3 or Firewire 800) and simply use the NAS as a backup and don't even worry about trying to connect to the images over your LAN. As Wayne indicates, it's useful to save out the .XMP settings metadata but that will not keep a LR catalog in sync.

I think you need to re-think what you think you want to do...

[natas]

Yes this is on a managed gigabit network. It actually is very fast (I max out the link when reading and writing). Sure its not as fast as a internal SSD drive but I see no difference when reading and writing files from local.

[citro]

According Adobe Forums, you can't (without a hack) place catalogue files on a network volume (catalogues have to be on a drive that is physically attached to the computer that Lightroom is running on).

[lfeagan]

I run a setup like this without issue. I use the NAS for storing the photos. I don't use XMP sidecars. Both computers have their own local catalog. I export the catalog to the NAS and import it on the other computer whenever I want to switch off. While this sounds awful, the workflow that is going on for me is that I arrive home with files pulled into LR on my notebook. I have done initial rating/edits while on the road. Now I want to work from my desktop. So, I export the catalog with the new files, save it to the NAS, import it on the desktop, and continue from there. So, in my situation, I rarely push the catalog back from the desktop to the notebook. If I were regularly doing a bi-directional flow of information between the two catalogs, things would be more tricky. As it stands, it is basically a bulk dump operation from notebook to desktop of recent photos.

[meyerweb]

I use a NAS only as a backup, and keep my image files and catalog on an external USB 3.0 drive.  I notice little difference in performance between the USB 3.0 drive and an internal SATA drive, don't have to worry about copying and importing or exporting catalogs, or having multiple copies of images on different computers. My laptop doesn't have to be connected to the network, either, so I can easily take it with me anywhere I might want to work.

It's a workable solution for me.