2 SATA drives - Where should I place my ACRcache, catalog, and images?

[stayathomedad]

Still slightly confused
Two drives
Application is on the boot drive.
Where/how should I split up the ACRcache, catalog, and images?
Should I have the catalog on a different drive then the cache?
Should the catalog and cache be on the same drive?
thanks

 

[ukbrown]

I think the where acrcache is the greatest impact on performance, so splitting that off is a good idea.

 

[pjamedia]

This is a good question. I have a dedicated drive in my PC for ACR Cache, Bridge Cache, and LR Catalog. Would be interested to see what people think about the placement of these in relation to one another and whether cache and catalog would be better placed on separate drives.

Paul A

 

[Mark Sirota]

When you render previews, LR reads from the Camera Raw cache, writes to the Previews database, and updates the Catalog. If the data isn't in the Camera Raw cache, it reads from the originals and writes to the Camera Raw cache first.

When you work in Develop, LR reads from Camera Raw cache and updates the Catalog. If you write data to XMP automatically, it also updates the originals or sidecars.

When you update metadata, LR updates the catalog. If you write data to XMP automatically, it also updates the originals or sidecars.

Regular reads from the same data (e.g. Camera Raw cache during Develop) will generally be handled by the OS cache. Writes to the same data (Catalog, XMP files) don't have that advantage.

Once you digest that, you can figure out what activities in LR you wish to optimize for, and distribute your files accordingly.

 

[pjamedia]

[quote author=Mark Sirota link=topic=11369.msg764'7#msg764'7 date=12877'4666]
When you render previews, LR reads from the Camera Raw cache, writes to the Previews database, and updates the Catalog. If the data isn't in the Camera Raw cache, it reads from the originals and writes to the Camera Raw cache first.
[/quote]
As previews are always created in the same location as the selected catalog, then these are inseparable, so for our evaluation we have to treat these as one - so the only real choice for separation we have is the separation between ACRCache and Catalog/previews. Given your analysis on reads/writes, I would suggest that there would always be a benefit of having these on separate drives. In the example above, even when LR is just reading from the cache its also writing to the catalog, so even if not creating cache entries it requires access to both areas, so even here separation would improve performance.

Would you concur Mark?

Thanks, Paul

 

[Jim Wilde]

You also need to factor in the location of actual picture files....although 'most' of the raw image data is pre-rendered and stored in the CameraRaw cache, I understand that not all of it is. So even when working in Develop you will (initially) be hitting BOTH the CameraRaw cache folder AND the image folder....that's certainly my experience when just scrolling through my images in Develop.

FWIW, and based totally on input/advice received from this forum, I have 4 internal drives....one for OS/Program Files, one for Catalog/Previews, one for Cache, one for Picture files.

Where you have, say, only two drives then you have to make more of a decision as Mark suggested, based on your own use of Lightroom. One thing to note, however, is that you can always try different combinations until you get the setup that works best for you....as you say you cannot separate Catalog from Previews, but you can MOVE them from one drive to another. Similarly you can change the location of the CameraRaw Cache, and of course you can also change location (carefully, i.e. preferably using LR) of the picture files.

 

[pjamedia]

Here's an interesting twist on the original question:

If I were to buy an SSD drive, would this be better deployed to house the LR database/previews or ACR Cache ? Or should I really splash out and get 2 of these speed demons?

Paul

 

[Jim Wilde]

Paul, it depends! I'd refer you back to Mark Sirota's earlier post where he explained how Lightroom works in it's various modes, from which you might be able to answer your own question. Also, I think there have been quite a few posts in the Equipment section of the forum which would be worth a read.

The thing is, because you have flexibility about where to place Catalog/Previews, ACR Cache, Image Files, you are able to (fairly easily) experiment with different setups to decide for yourself what suits you best....there really isn't a straightforward answer because of the different processes in the various modules.

 

[Mark Sirota]

[quote author=TNG link=topic=11369.msg77224#msg77224 date=1288886141]
Paul, it depends! I'd refer you back to Mark Sirota's earlier post where he explained how Lightroom works in it's various modes, from which you might be able to answer your own question.[/quote]

I think you mean this one, right? Probably ought to re-tool that for the Tips & Tricks forum.

 

[Jim Wilde]

Yep, that one! Good idea to put it in Tips and Tricks, it would be useful reading for anyone looking to improve their disk performance/setup.