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Backing up Catalog to Network

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BJF

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I have read some of the items here on this but without help. I am missing some crucial step. Have a Network Drive (DLINK DNS-323) that Lightroom will download photos from, but not see to let me backup the catalog, no matter what I try. Am uncomfortable pasting catalog directories without very explicit clear instructions. Can somebody guide this newbie please?:?:
 
As far as I am aware LR will not allow you to have the catalog on a network. It is ok to have the actual files on a network. But the catalog must be on an internal or external drive physically connected to the computer. This is to insure that there can be only one user having access at any point in time.
 
BJF, Welcome to the forums.

If Denis' correct answer doesn;t solve your problem, could you please explain in more detail what's happening? Personally, I'm not certain I understand from your description above.
 
It is my understanding that the OP wants to utilize the network drive as a means of backing up the catalog, not to actually run it from the drive.

(This cannot be done via the backup to location dialog upon starting Lightroom.) - Edit. Scratch that. It can be backed up to a network drive. You may have to wait for a while, up to a minute or so, for the networked drives to show up. This tested on a Mac.

To backup your catalog manually it is simply a matter of pushing the folder that contains the .lrcat and .lrdat (previews) to the relevant location on the drive. This is of course a manual operation.
 
Clarification please

When you say "pushing", I suspect that means "copy and paste" in the Windows world. Is this correct? Am I corrrect in understanding that LR will not even let your "backup" catalog exist on a network drive? Thanks all.
 
Your backup catalog can be anywhere. The backup catalog is simply an identical copy of the working catalog. Lr will offer to make a backup copy at startup, at configurable intervals, or you can simply copy/paste the catalog usin the OS Explorer/Finder. If there are problems in this, it's not likely due to Lr. It's more likely down to user disk write permissions, or something similar in the OS.

Lr will not (under ordinary circumstances) *open* a catalog on a network disk/resource.
 
Backup done - follow on questions please

Well, this info helped and I have backed up my catalog to a Network Drive. Now I am really learning some things tho...LR Catalog is only 8 MB and I have 4-5'' MB of JPegs. Does the Catalog really store the photos or only data about them? Do I need to backup the photos from Explorer to my network drive as well? Obviously, just getting the concepts of LR. Tried to find a local class but without luck...obviously needed. Have been watching tutorials and reading doc, but your guidance is still required. Many thanks, B
 
BJF;41'65 said:
Well, this info helped and I have backed up my catalog to a Network Drive. Now I am really learning some things tho...LR Catalog is only 8 MB and I have 4-5'' MB of JPegs. Does the Catalog really store the photos or only data about them? Yes, just the data, the images are left where Lr found them when you imported.


Do I need to backup the photos from Explorer to my network drive as well?
[COLOR=#''''ff]Yes, this is a crucial part of the backup process. Unfortunately, as yet, Lr offers no support for this. Most folks use some sort of specialized third party back-up or file sync'ing s/w for thi[/COLOR]s.

Obviously, just getting the concepts of LR. Tried to find a local class but without luck...obviously needed. Have been watching tutorials and reading doc, but your guidance is still required. Many thanks, B

[COLOR=#''''ff]Just keep asking questions here, we like helping.......[/COLOR]
 
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