Photo storage

Nick

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Joined
Aug 9, 2007
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Well, it appears the law of hard drives getting bigger as more space is needed is not true, because I'm about maxed out again. :(

As you can see below, I only have 86GB left on my main 2TB drive, then on my mirrored 2TB RAID, I only have a bit left (raidicus and vaulticus are both on one 2TB RAID with mirrored 1TB drives). Then I have another 2TB striped RAID array that I use as my Time Machine backup drive. Add to that 4 qty loose 1TB drives, 3 or 4 2.5" drives between 250GB and 750GB and then a couple of external 1TB's and I'm about filled up.

Screen Shot 2012-09-03 at 8.20.19 PM.png

So how do you manage your massive photo libraries??? I need help!
 
Deleting your porn collection should help! ;)

I have 3 TB's (2TB and a 1TB HD) in my rig. The 1TB is nearly full, but the 2TB has lots of room. I backup to an external HD that is nearly full (actually it is because I can't backup everything I want so I back up the most important stuff only). I just ordered an external HD enclosure to put in a 500GB HD that I have had sitting around forever not being used.
 
I have a few Western Digital exterior mirrored drives that I filled up long ago...but unfortunately WD stopped making those, so right now I am using regular external drives that are backed up to CrashPlan. My original backup to CrashPlan took over a month, but once it caught up it keeps everything up-to-date. It's already saved me a few times since it keeps backups of older versions of your files, too.
 
Well, it appears the law of hard drives getting bigger as more space is needed is not true, because I'm about maxed out again. :(

As you can see below, I only have 86GB left on my main 2TB drive, then on my mirrored 2TB RAID, I only have a bit left (raidicus and vaulticus are both on one 2TB RAID with mirrored 1TB drives). Then I have another 2TB striped RAID array that I use as my Time Machine backup drive. Add to that 4 qty loose 1TB drives, 3 or 4 2.5" drives between 250GB and 750GB and then a couple of external 1TB's and I'm about filled up.

View attachment 4938

So how do you manage your massive photo libraries??? I need help!

Stop photo hoarding!! Haha. One thing that helps me to free up space is to go back and delete the pictures that I don't use/want from past trips. I manage my photo libraries in Lightroom.
 
Stop photo hoarding!! Haha. One thing that helps me to free up space is to go back and delete the pictures that I don't use/want from past trips. I manage my photo libraries in Lightroom.

Yeah, I really, really have a hard time doing that. Maybe it's time to go back and do a cleanse...
 
Holy $h!+! :eek: Now I see why you are running out of space... My entire photo collection is 96GB! Of course 99.9% of my photos are jpg... I'm sure shooting raw is going to start eating up my HD space much quicker now. Plus you guys are always out there! :twothumbs:

I need to get out more!
 
Just finished backing up my entire photo collection. It took 5 bluray discs. The frightening part is that 2012 took 2 discs alone (Bought an dslr beginning of 2012), but I only shot raw from June on...
 
Reviving this thread because I'm back in the same old situation. Since the last go 'round I've added some space. This is what my connected drive profile looks like today. Fun to compare with 14 months ago when I started this thread:

Screen Shot 2013-11-20 at 7.40.00 PM.png

Since the Time Machine drive is just backup, I'm basically out of space. Yeah, I have a decent amount left on my video raid, but I've been shuffling things around just to keep my computer running semi-smoothly. So I decided to really throw the kitchen sink at this problem. I ordered a new computer to start off. For the Mac loving geeks out there, this is what I have on the way:

27" iMac
3.5Ghz i7
32GB RAM
3TB Fusion Drive (SSD/HDD combo)
4GB VRAM

I'm pretty stoked on that setup - it's about as loaded as loaded gets for an iMac. But sadly, that drive space still ain't gonna cut it, especially since I went self-employed and have to store all my not-so-fun work locally now. My two existing RAID drives are Western Digital 2TB drives but I have them setup for redundancy, not speed so I only get 1TB storage per drive. Oh, and I hate them - they 'spin up' frequently and lock up my whole system for a few seconds. Really annoying. Switching the main drive to a 3TB should buy my a 6-12 months without totally running out but then I'm going to be in the same boat. So the question is now, what to replace the external with. I looked hard at a Drobo 5D with thunderbolt but I'm scared of their proprietary crap and mixed reviews. Also looked at Synology NAS and Promise Pegasus RAID. Decided I need DAS not NAS and Promise Pegasus is way too much loot for me. So now I'm thinking I'll pickup an 8TB G-Technology G-Raid with Thunderbolt and run it in RAID 0 for pure speed with regular USB drive(s) backing it up. The only problem is that 8TB RAID with a cable is like $750. Painful....

So, I realize the chances of someone here on BCP having input on this specific setup is slim, but I thought I'd post anyway since I started this last year. The new computer is a done deal, but I'm having a really hard time convincing myself to drop the coin on the RAID. Thoughts?

Important points not mentioned in my long-winded post:
- I really want to maintain plenty of open drive space for maximum speed. 50% full would be nice.
- I do a lot of video editing for work so speed of access is important.
 
Nice on the new computer. I've been toying with getting a new Mac...now you're going to make me try to keep up with the Joneses!

I'm probably going to start leaning towards solid state drives in the future. But I haven't filled up my drives, yet, so I've got time for the prices to come down more.
 
Interested given your uses why you opted for an iMac over a Mac Pro? The new models land soon and there will be a glut of used ones available I'd expect.

I'm still chugging along on my 2006 Mac Pro (with upgraded SSD and video card). Seven years of life out of a workstation is pretty good, in my eyes. I'd really like to upgrade this year but the requirements of also picking up a Thunderbolt display and external drive enclosure (the older model Pros have four internal 3.5 inch drive bays) has me hesitant. Well, those and the 3k starting price.
 
Nice on the new computer. I've been toying with getting a new Mac...now you're going to make me try to keep up with the Joneses!

I'm probably going to start leaning towards solid state drives in the future. But I haven't filled up my drives, yet, so I've got time for the prices to come down more.


Haha! You don't know how happy it made me that someone digs that new machine. Seems like it's either people who blindly hate Macs or people who have no clue how awesome a nice setup is.

I'm definitely liking the idea of SSD as well. I debated whether to go with pure SSD in this new machine or the Fusion drive but the benchmarks make it look like the Fusion is nearly as fast but with so much more capacity. It's amazing how much SSD prices have come down but it's still pretty crazy. I was looking at replacing the drive in my MacBook Pro with an SSD and it's nearly $200 for a pretty small drive. Crazy!

Interested given your uses why you opted for an iMac over a Mac Pro? The new models land soon and there will be a glut of used ones available I'd expect.

I'm still chugging along on my 2006 Mac Pro (with upgraded SSD and video card). Seven years of life out of a workstation is pretty good, in my eyes. I'd really like to upgrade this year but the requirements of also picking up a Thunderbolt display and external drive enclosure (the older model Pros have four internal 3.5 inch drive bays) has me hesitant. Well, those and the 3k starting price.

I would love a Mac Pro, it just doesn't make sense to me, especially since I can't get that sweet iMac screen for it. The 24" thunderbolt display is nice, but the 27" on the latest iMac is friggin' sweet. And now that the new Pros don't have all the drive bays, it just seems like a waste since I'd still have to drop serious coin on a RAID. I actually bought a high end Mac Pro back in '08. It was a sweet machine and treated me well. I hung onto it for about 18 months but then I sold it. The only thing I've missed about it are the drive bays, and now with the new Mac Pro, that is a moot point. I'd be really interested to see how a top of the line iMac with an external Thunderbolt RAID stacks up to a Mac Pro. I have no idea, but it's hard to imagine that it's a $1k+ difference. But with that said, the new 'trash can' enclosure is pretty sweet. If only they had made it twice as big and kept the drive bays. :(
 
Haha! You don't know how happy it made me that someone digs that new machine. Seems like it's either people who blindly hate Macs or people who have no clue how awesome a nice setup is.


Well, mon frere, I have my third iMac here at home and have a newish high end one at work. So, you are not alone! The fusion drive in my iMac at work is noticeably faster upon program startup and reboot. Highly recommended! I am not completely drunk on the AAPL kool-aid being a Windows professional and regulary running windows in VM Fusion both at work and home but to my mind the operating system is superior in user experience in display and usability which are the two most important criteria IMNSHO.

I have been thinking of replacing my home machine which is now three but am waiting for the Mac Pro release and reviews to decide.

And, Yes You Can have the same great 27" display with the Mac Pro simply by buying the Apple Cinema Display to attache to it. Or better yet, three of them :twothumbs:
 
Nice on the new computer. I've been toying with getting a new Mac...now you're going to make me try to keep up with the Joneses!

I'm probably going to start leaning towards solid state drives in the future. But I haven't filled up my drives, yet, so I've got time for the prices to come down more.


Start running to keep up Keith. Better yet just get your credit card out and you will be caught up :) I am a big fan of the Fusion drive in my new work iMac.
 
I'm running a DIY fusion drive on my Mac Pro (OS and apps on the SSD, everything else on traditional drives).

Nick, take a look at the benchmarks for the mid and high-grade Mac Pros. They've started showing up online, and they're nuts. I agree that the cost might not warrant the increase, but it's impressive engineering. The iMacs are plenty fast but workstations come with workstation price tags for a reason.
 
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