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Library module Should I move to an SSD external HD to improve performance?

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bill.fischer5

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Lightroom Version Number
20.4
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  1. macOS 10.14 Mojave
I am hoping to improve my processing time. I bought a Crucial 4 TB SSD external hard drive. It is amazingly small. Is this a good idea to use this for my lightroom Classic files and folders..

I would love to here some of the Pros and Cons of using an SSD drive.

Should I keep my LRC catalogue on my IMac's internal hard drive. In rare occasions it would be nice to just take my SSD drive to use elsewhere. Since this would be rare I am more concerned with the most efficient safest way to run my LRC and preserve my original photo files

does anyone have a good link to instructions for moving my catalogue and picture files to a new External HD/
 
The only real con is that you have to remember to have the drive with you if you want to edit photos. Otherwise, there are a lot of pros with moving the photos to the SSD:
  • Frees up the expensive internal storage of recent Macs.
  • Should not slow down work in Lightroom Classic, that SSD is fast enough.
  • Makes it easier to use multiple computers with the same catalog.
  • Is a very compact way to have all your photos with you, and backs up quickly (to another SSD).
If you expect to normally keep the Crucial 4TB SSD connected to your iMac, but you sometimes want to edit with another Mac like a laptop, then put the catalog on the SSD.

does anyone have a good link to instructions for moving my catalogue and picture files to a new External HD/
There is one on this same site:
How do I move only my photos to another hard drive, leaving the catalog where it is?

If I was in your shoes I would try option 2 on that page: Copy the top parent folder, containing all the photos, to the external SSD. In step 4, you redirect Lightroom Classic to where the parent folder is on the external SSD, so it should relink to everything at that location.

I am hoping to improve my processing time.
This depends on the type of storage you’re currently using to store your photos.

If your photos are currently stored on a Fusion drive or hard drive (internal or external), you might see some performance improvement from moving the catalog and photos to an SSD.

If your photos are on the flash storage built into recent Macs, that storage is so fast that an external SSD probably won’t improve performance. In this case, the only way an external SSD might speed things up is if the internal Mac flash storage is almost out of free space, because that will slow down an SSD. If it is that full, freeing up space there by moving the photos and catalog to an external could get system performance back to where it should be.

As has been discussed in this forum recently, when editing in Lightroom Classic, the bulk of the storage I/O is with the Camera Raw cache, the preview cache, and the catalog. Those are what benefit the most from being on an SSD. The original photo files themselves are accessed only occasionally, so moving them to an SSD doesn’t make much difference. If you are trying to make processing faster in the Develop module, CPU and GPU performance make the most difference.
 
If you don't mind I'd like to join this conversation. I too am wanting to move my images and catalog from a WD My Passport HD formatted for Windows to a Samsung 3TB SSD. I assume I have the same options of moving my photos as already mentioned above and in the forum post How do I move only my photos to another hard drive, leaving the catalog where it is? | The Lightroom Queen. However, I don't see anything about moving the catalog? I also keep my presets with my catalog on the WD My Passport HD.

So, I assume I should first move or copy my photos/folders to the new drive either by copying using Windows file explorer or 3rd party file synchronization software such TeraCopy (which can validate the copy went correctly) or move inside Lightroom by dragging and dropping to the new SSD? Then, after the copy or move of photos/folders I can then use the Windows file explorer or TeraCopy to move or copy my catalog and presets to the new SSD? How many files other than my Lightroom Catalog will I have to move or can I just move the folder that contains my catalog and presets thereby moving everything in one transaction?

Best Regards
 
If you don't mind I'd like to join this conversation. I too am wanting to move my images and catalog from a WD My Passport HD formatted for Windows to a Samsung 3TB SSD. I assume I have the same options of moving my photos as already mentioned above and in the forum post How do I move only my photos to another hard drive, leaving the catalog where it is? | The Lightroom Queen. However, I don't see anything about moving the catalog? I also keep my presets with my catalog on the WD My Passport HD.

So, I assume I should first move or copy my photos/folders to the new drive either by copying using Windows file explorer or 3rd party file synchronization software such TeraCopy (which can validate the copy went correctly) or move inside Lightroom by dragging and dropping to the new SSD? Then, after the copy or move of photos/folders I can then use the Windows file explorer or TeraCopy to move or copy my catalog and presets to the new SSD? How many files other than my Lightroom Catalog will I have to move or can I just move the folder that contains my catalog and presets thereby moving everything in one transaction?

Best Regards
Conrad: thank you this helps a lot. I got the ebook and will follow the instructions.
Gigerphotography; If you have a lot of photos move outside of lightroom as described in the Ebook on Mooving to a new computer. I think all you need to do is move the new catalogue files that start with you previous catalogue's name. but someone with more experience should confirm that.
 
Conrad: thank you this helps a lot. I got the ebook and will follow the instructions.
Gigerphotography; If you have a lot of photos move outside of lightroom as described in the Ebook on Mooving to a new computer. I think all you need to do is move the new catalogue files that start with you previous catalogue's name. but someone with more experience should confirm that.
Yes, I have lots of photos and videos. So, your suggestion is to move photos outside Lightroom right? Of course the catalog files will have to be moved using the OS too. Since I have Windows OS I gave current drive a permanent name and drive letter. After copying all photos and catalog files to new SSD should I remove drive letter and name from old WD HD so I can give the name and drive letter to the new SSD? I am just a bit confused on how to reconnect everything to Lightroom Classic. Thanks
 
The simplest way to move photos from one drive to another is to copy the complete photos folder structure outside Lightroom Classic (this works best if you have a single top level folder for the photos hierarchy, but having a few different top-level folders is also workable). There is no need to start changing drive names and letters, except that before doing the copy you could think about changing the letter of the target drive so that the letter is towards the end of the alphabet, e.g. from P onwards. That prevents the images going "missing" in LrC if Windows need to allocate a different drive letter if another drive has been added, which does happen more often than we'd like, so the further along the alphabet the drive letter is should prevent that from happening.

Once the copy is complete, start LrC then redirect it to the images on the new drive. You do that by right-clicking on the top-level folder in the Folders Panel and choosing "Update Folder Location" from the sub-menu, then use the resulting file browser to navigate to, and select, the copy of that same folder on the new drive. Repeat if needed for any other top-level folders. That procedure simply switches LrC's reference for the images to the new drive and it will forget about the old drive. When you are happy that all is as expected, you can delete the images from the original drive at your leisure.
 
Yes, I have lots of photos and videos. So, your suggestion is to move photos outside Lightroom right? Of course the catalog files will have to be moved using the OS too. Since I have Windows OS I gave current drive a permanent name and drive letter. After copying all photos and catalog files to new SSD should I remove drive letter and name from old WD HD so I can give the name and drive letter to the new SSD? I am just a bit confused on how to reconnect everything to Lightroom Classic. Thanks
Jim: I like your solutions: I have most of my photos on an external drive but I also have quit a few folders in my pictures folder on my MAC internal hard drive. I want all to be on the new SSD. Are there any considerations for those files on a different drive other than seeing the folder names are not the same?
 
The simplest way to move photos from one drive to another is to copy the complete photos folder structure outside Lightroom Classic (this works best if you have a single top level folder for the photos hierarchy, but having a few different top-level folders is also workable). There is no need to start changing drive names and letters, except that before doing the copy you could think about changing the letter of the target drive so that the letter is towards the end of the alphabet, e.g. from P onwards. That prevents the images going "missing" in LrC if Windows need to allocate a different drive letter if another drive has been added, which does happen more often than we'd like, so the further along the alphabet the drive letter is should prevent that from happening.

Once the copy is complete, start LrC then redirect it to the images on the new drive. You do that by right-clicking on the top-level folder in the Folders Panel and choosing "Update Folder Location" from the sub-menu, then use the resulting file browser to navigate to, and select, the copy of that same folder on the new drive. Repeat if needed for any other top-level folders. That procedure simply switches LrC's reference for the images to the new drive and it will forget about the old drive. When you are happy that all is as expected, you can delete the images from the original drive at your leisure.
Yes, I understand it's faster to move all photos/videos using the OS simply by copying the top level folder over to the new HD.
I am asking about drive letters because currently my LrC expects to find my catalog on drive P which I have named PhotoVideo. The top level folder is named GEGJRPHOTOVIDEO. I know I just have to copy it, GEGJRPHOTOVIDEO, to my new drive using Windows-10 file explorer. However, I would like to keep the drive name and letter on the new drive the same as on the drive I'm moving from. It's just a matter of housekeeping to make it easier for me and for LrC. Which is why I'm asking about when to change drive letters. I know it may seem a bit eccentric but chalk it up to me being set int my ways. Thanks and Best Regards
 
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Yes, I understand it's faster to move all photos/videos using the OS simply by copying the top level folder over to the new HD.
I am asking about drive letters because currently my LrC expects to find my catalog on drive P which I have named PhotoVideo. The top level folder is named GEGJRPHOTOVIDEO. I know I just have to copy it, GEGJRPHOTOVIDEO, to my new drive using Windows-10 file explorer. However, I would like to keep the drive name and letter on the new drive the same as on the drive I'm moving from. It's just a matter of housekeeping to make it easier for me and for LrC. Which is why I'm asking about when to change drive letters. I know it may seem a bit eccentric but chalk it up to me being set int my ways. Thanks and Best Regards
Copy the images to the new drive when LrC is closed down, make sure the top-level folder is in the same place on the new drive as it is on the old drive. Then rename and re-letter the old drive, then name and letter the new drive to be the same as the old drive was, then start LrC.
 
Copy the images to the new drive when LrC is closed down, make sure the top-level folder is in the same place on the new drive as it is on the old drive. Then rename and re-letter the old drive, then name and letter the new drive to be the same as the old drive was, then start LrC.
My picture related files are all on an external hard drive except my LRC catalogue files which are on my IMac. I have been using this External drive in LRC for a while. I still want to run my catalogue on the internal drive but I want to have everything else on my new SSD external drive. Can I simply close LRC and then use Carbon Copy Cloner to clone the external HD to my new SSD external drive? Will I be all set to start working again?
 
thank you Jim: Is your preference pointing to the need for steps 3 and the others to insure all files are found and transferred? Or are you saying that using Finder to copy the files is better than using Carbon Copy Cloner to do the same thing. If I use Carbon Copy Cloner I will still do steps 3 and the rest. I have 106000 photos to move. my current external hard drive only has photography related items. Besides my LRC photos I have tutorials, notes on shoots and my catalogue merge project. So I want all of that on the new SSD.
 
Do it whichever way you prefer. I'm not saying one is better than the other, it's just that I'd probably find it easier to drag and drop from one drive to the other using Finder than setup a Clone, but that's just me.
 
I see your point. Fortunately in my case I already use Carbon Copy Cloner so it is simply a matter of adding this task to a program I know. So I will use the cloner. I think that it will be faster and they claim more error free. Not sure if that is true. bot thank everyone for all the help. I will let you know how it turns out.
 
I already use Carbon Copy Cloner so it is simply a matter of adding this task to a program I know. So I will use the cloner. I think that it will be faster and they claim more error free. Not sure if that is true.
I use Carbon Copy Cloner to maintain backups. There is nothing wrong with using it to do a major migration copy like this.
It can potentially be faster and more error-free than a straight Finder copy, but that may involve enabling some of the Advanced Options for a job, such as “Re-verify the files that were copied” (which is safer, but the backup takes a lot longer).
 
thank you conrad. I have already started the cloning and it is well into the process. Is there an option to verify the back uo after it has been completed? Should I stop it, erase the drive and start over with the advanced settings? I am new to Carbon Copy cloner. I had someone help me set it up for my regular backups. so I did not think of looking at advanced settings.
 
thank you conrad. I have already started the cloning and it is well into the process. Is there an option to verify the back uo after it has been completed? Should I stop it, erase the drive and start over with the advanced settings? I am new to Carbon Copy cloner. I had someone help me set it up for my regular backups. so I did not think of looking at advanced settings.
If you don't mind me butting in, if cloner is like TeraCopy than there should be a box to check for verifying after the copy. Mind you verification will double the time.
 
If you don't mind me butting in, if cloner is like TeraCopy than there should be a box to check for verifying after the copy. Mind you verification will double the time.
Unfortunately I have already started the cloning. It is almost done it was doing 2.74 TB. It has been running for 24 hrs and 30 minutes. It looks CCC has an advanced option to verify the data on the new SSD after cloning is complete. . What I would like to know is approximately how long would that take?
 
Unfortunately I have already started the cloning. It is almost done it was doing 2.74 TB. It has been running for 24 hrs and 30 minutes. It looks CCC has an advanced option to verify the data on the new SSD after cloning is complete. . What I would like to know is approximately how long would that take?
Not familiar with CCC. I use TeraCopy
 
Not familiar with CCC. I use TeraCopy
thank you for getting back to me. I will wait to do the AD Hock Verification till after I reach CCC. The transfer took 27:57:39 Io transfer 295,315 files (2.13 TB. I have an Imac. I was transfering from a Lacie regular external drive to my new Crucial X6 4 TB SSD external drive. Does that sound like how long TeraCopy would take? I did not have the advanced setting to verify while coping turned on because at the time I did not realize the option existed.
 
Is there an option to verify the back uo after it has been completed? Should I stop it, erase the drive and start over with the advanced settings? I am new to Carbon Copy cloner. ...Unfortunately I have already started the cloning. It is almost done it was doing 2.74 TB. It has been running for 24 hrs and 30 minutes. It looks CCC has an advanced option to verify the data on the new SSD after cloning is complete. . What I would like to know is approximately how long would that take?
I’ve used Carbon Copy Cloner for many years, but there are parts of the program I don’t use often such as the verification features. Reading the online help, it looks like you might try the “Verify files copied by this task” feature first.

I am not sure how long any post-verification feature will take, but they can fall into two broad categories. If the feature scans the storage directories to see if 1) the same files are on both sides, and 2) if any of the files are different (in terms of file size, modification date…), it might go relatively quickly. But if the feature needs to make sure the actual files on both sides are identical down to the last bit (looking for file corruption), it could take hours because every file would have to be read fully.

The impression I get from the documentation is that “Verify files copied by this task” is the first kind of verification, and “Find and replace corrupted files” and “Re-verify files that were copied” might be the second type, because they create a checksum of every file and compare the copies against that.

The transfer took 27:57:39 Io transfer 295,315 files (2.13 TB. I have an Imac. I was transfering from a Lacie regular external drive to my new Crucial X6 4 TB SSD external drive. Does that sound like how long TeraCopy would take?
In addition to knowing what options were selected, another big question affecting time to backup is how the two volumes were connected. The initial bottleneck is the Lacie external drive if it is a hard drive (typically 100–200MB/sec) compared to the much faster Crucial X6 SSD (up to 800MB/sec). The next bottleneck is the cable and port connecting them: Was it USB 2 (real world 20-30MB/sec) or some form of USB 3 (real world 500-900MB/sec?
 
The transfer took 27:57:39 Io transfer 295,315 files (2.13 TB.)
If I did the math right, that works out to a little over 21MB/sec. That leads to the question, was the hard drive or iMac connected though a USB 2 port or cable?
 
If I did the math right, that works out to a little over 21MB/sec. That leads to the question, was the hard drive or iMac connected though a USB 2 port or cable?
The two drive were connected to my Imac through the smaller USB port which I think is usb 3. I think that is correct . I have unplugged everything to physically move computer and drive to a new location.. As for the settings I did not check the box for verifying files while copying. Her is a screen shot of the task after it was completed and I have not done anything else since.
 

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