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Bastian5E0F
Known Participant
September 15, 2021
Question

NAS and Lightroom Classic

  • September 15, 2021
  • 6 replies
  • 7952 views

Hello, everyone,


First of all I don't have a NAS yet, but I would like to get one.
I have already been on several forums and they always recommended a DS220J to me (unfortunately not available EVERYWHERE at the moment).
However, I still have some questions and hope that this will help me:

I will mainly use the NAS as storage for my pictures. (Of course, other important files / folders are also stored on it).
There is no video streaming or anything else done.

I am currently using an external SSD and a MacBook Air M1 (8-core CPU, 8-core GPU, 16 GB of RAM). So my workflow looks like this:
Images are pulled from the drone to the SSD via the tower PC. Once the images are on the SSD, they are connected to my MacBook Air and I work in parallel in Lightroom - the images are not stored locally on the laptop.

For the future, because I'm tired of lugging around an SSD when I want to edit images (RAW only), I would like to get a NAS.
How exactly does it work? My catalog is locally on the hard drive, but Lightroom CC then accesses my NAS when it is open. I mean, the NAS -> laptop transfer rate is limited and far slower than the SSD -> laptop transfer rate. Would it then take forever to "reload" the images?
Furthermore, I mostly merge pictures with different exposure levels to an HDR to get the different contrast range. When merging, the original files are accessed again. Duration now with SSD approx. 2-3 seconds image. With a NAS it would probably take "a lot" longer, right?
I also found this link https://nextinphotography.com/best-nas-setup-lightroom-synology-tutorial/ 

I hope you can help me!

 

[updated title to reflect correct version]

This topic has been closed for replies.

6 replies

KR Seals
Community Expert
KR SealsCommunity Expert
Community Expert
September 16, 2021

@Bastian5E0F Like I said in my post, I haven't used a NAS for quite some time.

I suggest you Google NAS reviews paying special attention to the transfer speed numbers.

Ken Seals - Nikon Z 9, Z 8, 14mm-800mm. Computer Win 11 Pro, I7-14700K, 64GB, RTX3070TI. Travel machine: 2021 MacBook Pro M1 MAX 64GB. All Adobe apps.
KR Seals
Community Expert
KR SealsCommunity Expert
Community Expert
September 15, 2021

I tried NASs for a few years. One important thing to be sure to check is the speed of the CPU in the NAS. A slow one will result in slow transfer speeds. The thing I really disliked about the NASs I owned was that they use a proprietary file system. I was not possible to pull a drive out of the NAS and just stick it in my PC in the event of a drive failure. My solution is to use an additional, lower powered PC as a file server connected to my office network via ethernet. The speed is acceptable and I can use the disks as immediate replacements in case of a failure in my main machine, or I can go directly to the file server/backup PC directly and be back in full operation for image and video processing in just a few minutes. My backup process also includes a set of loose hard drives kept up to date and off site.

Ken Seals - Nikon Z 9, Z 8, 14mm-800mm. Computer Win 11 Pro, I7-14700K, 64GB, RTX3070TI. Travel machine: 2021 MacBook Pro M1 MAX 64GB. All Adobe apps.
    B
    Bastian5E0FAuthor
    Known Participant
    September 16, 2021

    Its a Realtek RTD1296 4-Core 1,4 GHz processor with 512 MB of RAM. Is that enough? 🙂

    GoldingD
    GoldingD
    Legend
    September 15, 2021
    newest version - updated yesterday.

    Please, in the future, do not make such a statement.  Such a often meaningless statement just irritates members who might be able to help. They have had far to many instances where authors were actually talking about Lightroom Desktop (Cloudy), or LR V6, or Lr Mobile. Your answer should have been:

     

    Lightroom Classic version 10.4

     

    Authors of posts might as well be using curse words when stating

     

    • latest
    • current
    • updated
    • up to date
    • etc

    End of venting

      B
      Bastian5E0FAuthor
      Known Participant
      September 15, 2021

      Noticed for the next time! sorry! 🙂 

      My Lightroom Classic is updated to version 10.4! 🙂

      F. McLion
      Community Expert
      F. McLionCommunity Expert
      Community Expert
      September 15, 2021

      For the photos, placing them on a NAS is no big deal and it works a s expected.

      However, there is no oficially supported way to have the catalog on a network drive or NAS. There are many users that have a setup using a Synology for instance and use the local sync client to sync alocal folder to the NAS continuosly or after work.

      You always have to work with a local copy, LrC cannot open the catalog from a shared or network drive.

      There is some risk involved. You always have to make sure all syncronization has been finished before shuting down after work and also before opening LrC on a different client.

       

      --- Got your issue resolved? Please label the response as 'Correct Answer' to help your fellow community members find a solution to similar problems. ---
        B
        Bastian5E0FAuthor
        Known Participant
        September 15, 2021

        I dont want to have the catalog on the NAS - Catalog should stay on the internal 1 TB drive on my M1.

        Was just curious about the "loading" times as mentioned a post above.

        dj_paige
        dj_paige
        Legend
        September 15, 2021

        Its Lightroom Classic, newest version - updated yesterday.

         

        Honestly, when someone asks for the version NUMBER, you need to provide the version NUMBER. We have had far too many discussions with people who claim they have the latest version, only to find out later they do not have the latest version, meaning we have wasted a lot of time. So what is your Lightroom Classic version NUMBER?

         

        How exactly does it work? My catalog is locally on the hard drive, but Lightroom CC then accesses my NAS when it is open. I mean, the NAS -> laptop transfer rate is limited and far slower than the SSD -> laptop transfer rate. Would it then take forever to "reload" the images?

         

        It takes however long it takes. I don't know your hardware and so I can't guess. Most time delays in Lightroom Classic are not due to disk speed or transfer speed (unless there is some malfunction), these are almost always small compared to the CPU time needed to perform operations in LrC.

         

        If I were you, I would import the photos from the drone or camera directly to the NAS, rather than first importing to the internal hard disk and then later moving the photos to the NAS.

         

        I also don't know what you mean by "reload" the images.

         

        When merging, the original files are accessed again. Duration now with SSD approx. 2-3 seconds image. With a NAS it would probably take "a lot" longer, right?

         

        Most of the time for creating HDR images is CPU time, not disk time. So I'm guessing the 2-3 seconds you mention is primarily (let's say 95% or more) CPU time. Unless there is some malfunction in using the NAS or malfunction in transferring photos from NAS to your computer's memory, I doubt this will be a problem, and your 2-3 seconds might go to 2.5-3.5 seconds. But again, I'm not familiar with your hardware and I don't know your NAS, so the only real way to know is to try it.

        B
        Bastian5E0FAuthor
        Known Participant
        September 15, 2021

        So what is your Lightroom Classic version NUMBER?

        My Version Number is 10.4. So, I'm using Lightroom Classic 10.4

         

        If I were you, I would import the photos from the drone or camera directly to the NAS, rather than first importing to the internal hard disk and then later moving the photos to the NAS.

        Thanks for the help, but up to now, I do now own a NAS system, like mentioned in the first sentence in my post.

         

        I also don't know what you mean by "reload" the images.

        So, imagine I own a NAS DS220J from Synology (eg.) and I imported the photos from drone direcetly to the NAS. Now I start my lightroom on my M1 MacBook (which is pretty fast) and start importing all those pictures (all RAW files). It may take a while. The read/write speed of an SSD is ca. 500 MByte/s. It might take longer from my NAS into my Lightroom Classic 10.4, am I right? So - importing finished.

        Now, when I close my Lightroom Classic 10.4 and reopen it, some days later, what exactly does Lightroom need to reload? Is there any big difference when I now start editing my photos because it somehow has to "reload" the pictures, because Lightroom was closed and reopened?

         

        Most of the time for creating HDR images is CPU time, not disk time.

        But in my future case (when I'm owning a NAS) the photos are stored on an NAS, im accessing with Wireless LAN, and not an attached SSD. Does it make any difference? (We are not talking about an half of a second).

         

        Looking forward to ur answer! 🙂

         

         

        dj_paige
        dj_paige
        Legend
        September 15, 2021

        So, imagine I own a NAS DS220J from Synology (eg.) and I imported the photos from drone direcetly to the NAS. Now I start my lightroom on my M1 MacBook (which is pretty fast) and start importing all those pictures (all RAW files). It may take a while. The read/write speed of an SSD is ca. 500 MByte/s. It might take longer from my NAS into my Lightroom Classic 10.4, am I right? So - importing finished.

        Now, when I close my Lightroom Classic 10.4 and reopen it, some days later, what exactly does Lightroom need to reload? Is there any big difference when I now start editing my photos because it somehow has to "reload" the pictures, because Lightroom was closed and reopened?

         

        No difference at all.

         

        But in my future case (when I'm owning a NAS) the photos are stored on an NAS, im accessing with Wireless LAN, and not an attached SSD. Does it make any difference? (We are not talking about an half of a second).

         

        Wireless will cause a noticeable delay.

        dj_paige
        dj_paige
        Legend
        September 15, 2021

        Adobe has confused everyone by their choice of names for their software.

         

        There is no such software as Lightroom CC. Are you referring to Lightroom Classic or Lightroom? What version NUMBER?

        B
        Bastian5E0FAuthor
        Known Participant
        September 15, 2021

        Its Lightroom Classic, newest version - updated yesterday.

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