Catalog and RAW-files on the same dik

[Gronlund I]

Hi all! Now I have all my Raw files (about 7'''') on one hard disk, and LR catalogs
(two) on another disk, but for backup purposes it would be better if they could be on same disk. So, I'm asking if it would cause significant loss of speed or some other disadvantages if I move the catalogs to the same drive as the pictures (I remember reading somewhere, that it is recommendable to have them on different volumes)?

 

[Mark Sirota]

It depends on the specifics of your hardware and setup, but some things are likely to slow down. For example, building previews requires reading from the raw files and writing to the previews database (which lives alongside the catalog) -- putting these on the same drive will increase traffic on that drive. Whether this causes a noticeable slowdown depends on your hardware, specifically whether I/O on that disk is the bottleneck for building previews.

 

[clee01l]

You will not be accessing all 7'K Raw files at the same time. What will happen during your normal LR workflow is a periodic access to the Catalog and an occasional access to the Metadata file if you are writing metadata to XMP. Your RAW files will be accessed serially (i.e. one at a time as you load them into active memory for LR to apply filters. The results of these filters are stored in the catalog database and (if selected) the XMP.
The fastest drive connection is the one I would use for the catalog. This usually means the bus connected internal HD. And of course the speed advantage of 72'' over 54'' drives. If all your Storage is internal bus connected, I do not think it matters which HD has the catalog.

 

[Denis Pagé]

Most importantly: Whatever you choose to do, configure Lightroom so it makes the backups on a different drive!

 

[Gronlund I]

Thank you all of your answers. Yes My Catalogs and Pic files are on fast internal HD:s.
And several external HD:s are for backup purpouses. So I think I'll try moving the catalog to the same drive with pics, so its easy to make the bacups (with SyncBack)
just the whole HD at one go.