Media Cache on a shared network drive

[Pixel Jar]

I can't really find a clear answer on the simple question: Can you use a shared network drive to share cache files between multiple editors?

I run a small production company (3 edit stations) but opening a project from station 1 on station 3 means waiting (sometimes hours, depending on the project/media) for peak files etc to be generated.

Rendering the station pretty useless as everything is slowed down.

So is it possible to share the cache, peak files, ... from station 1 with station 3 if we assign our cache to the same location on our shared network storage (which also contains our media pool)?

Thanks.

[basil1891]

Even if was possible technically, It won't do any good. Your bottleneck is network speed, and by moving cache into network too, you would make it worse, not better.

[Jeff Bugbee]

You could technically do that, but I wouldn't unless you're all connected to a 10GB network with a very fast server.

Also, simply turn off peak file generation. Premiere will create them on the fly anyway and won't bog the machine down at the beginning.

[Kevin-Monahan · Accepted solution]

Pixel Jar,

It is technically feasible but not advisable according to our senior techs. Keep the media cache on local drives.

Thanks,
Kevin 

[Pixel Jar]

Thanks for the answers.

Due to those limitations we'll stick to our Avid system for bigger projects.

[SergioS-OD · Accepted solution]

OpenDrives supports intelligent shared caching. 

https://opendrives.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/03/AdobePremierePro-solution-brief-230110.pdf

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZHhuS-IpxjU