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jclin10
jclin10
Known Participant
April 25, 2023
Question

NAS vs SDD for Lightroom files

  • April 25, 2023
  • 2 replies
  • 2558 views

Hi all


I'm looking to get a NAS for home use (mostly backups), but am now wondering if it is better to store my Lightroom files (not the Catalog) on a NAS or on an external SDD that is attached to the primary computer that I'll be using for photo editing.

 

Would love to hear the pros and cons of those two options

 

Thanks!

This topic has been closed for replies.

2 replies

J
Community Expert
Jao vdLCommunity Expert
Community Expert
May 1, 2023

I use both of these in my workflow with the NAS connected either on ethernet or through wifi. There is one thing where it really matters which is stepping through images while in the develop module. When the images are on SSD that is very fast. When going though a network and especially on wifi you'll get a second or so delay depending on the size of the files. For a typical 50 MB raw file on a gigabit ethernet network it is 1/2 a second. For a few hundred MB multilayer tiff, you can be waiting quite a few seconds. Also the latency of the network will be noticeable. If you're on wifi, expect those times to double. 

dj_paige
dj_paige
Legend
April 25, 2023

The location where you store your photos, and the speed of the disk, and the speed of the connection has a relatively trivial impact on most LrC activities.

 

See https://www.computer-darkroom.com/blog/will-an-ssd-improve-adobe-lightroom-performance/

jclin10
jclin10Author
Known Participant
April 25, 2023

That's great, thanks! I sort of assumed that a drive (like an SDD or even HDD) that was directly connected would be better than a NAS.

Conrad_C
Community Expert
Conrad_CCommunity Expert
Community Expert
April 25, 2023

A direct attached SSD or HDD can potentially be more responsive, only because they are not ever going to be vulnerable to network issues.

 

The number one reason to use a NAS is that you want the data to be accessible from multiple computers, devices, or locations. If you don’t actually need that, if the photos only ever need to be edited from one desktop computer, getting a NAS just for that costs more, adds complexity, and in some cases might be slower compared to directly attaching storage to the computer.

 

A NAS can be better if your main computer is a laptop and you want to be able to have access to images and backup wherever you are, without having to tie the laptop to storage with a cable on a desk.

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