new External Hard Drive

[KrisDan]

Hello,

I'm getting a new external hard drive and want to move all my image files onto it if possible. I read somewhere that it is good to have the lightroom catalog file on the same drive as the files. Currently I have some on a different Hard drive and some on my Imac hard drive. What I think I want to do is get everything together on the external but am unsure of what the best way to do this would be, or if it's even a good idea.

In case that was confusing here is my current set up,

27"Imac with 1tb internal hard drive with pics from 2010 to now (about 250gb pics)
1tb external hd with pics from 2003-2000 (hd old and worried it will fail soon)
1tb external hd with time machine

New external hard drive 2tb. Would like to consolidate all pics and LR cat. on one external (I think).

Any advice on if this is the way to go and how to execute would be greatly appreciated.

Kristy

 

[b_gossweiler]

Kristy,

There is no need (or advantage) of having the catalog on the same drive as the originals, especially if you're only using the catalog on one computer. Actually, there's a performance advantage of not having the catalog on the same volume as the originals. Also, having the catalog on an external drive requires a fast connection (faster than USB2), if you don't want to lose speed in LR compared to having the catalog on a local disc.

And, as you know, there's no need to have all the originals belonging to one catalog on the save volume (you're already using 2 today).

If I were you, I'd keep the catalog on the internal drive, making sure the backups are routed to the external drive (EHD).

I'd either place all the originals on the EHD (achieving that by moving folders from within LR), or just the 2003-2010 pictures as you have them today. Then make sure you have a solid backup mechanism in place for your EHD.

After you exchange the EHD's, you'll have to reconnect your folder(s) by choosing "Find missing Folder" on your top-level folder(s). This is easiest achieved if you have one (or a few) top-level folder(s), shown in LR (you might want to perform "Add Parent Folder" until the common top-level folders show).

If you have any questions, please come back here, best with a screen shot of your folders panel as it looks now.

Beat

 

[KrisDan]

Thank You

Thank you for responding. That clears up my misconception on where the catalog should live. I think I understand your advice and will be attempting the change within the next couple of days.

Kristy