# Does it Make Sense to Move Lightroom Catalog to an External SSD? And How Big an SSD?



## CameraCarl (Mar 28, 2020)

I am running Lightroom Classic on my 2017 5K Retina 27 inch iMac. I have almost 300,000 images in one catalog and my Lightroom Catalog Previews.lrdata file is typically 150-200 GB. Unfortunately my computer's internal SSD is only 512GB, so I find that Lightroom often runs slowly. I have tried periodically deleting my Lightroom Catalog Previews.lrdata, but this is not an optimum solution. 

Now that external SSDs are getting less expensive, does it makes sense to move my LR Catalog and previews, etc, to an external drive connected through the Firewire 3/USB-C port? If so, what size should I buy?  Would a 500GB drive be sufficient?  And would a bus driven SSD be okay or should I get one that an external power source? Anything else I should look for when buying an SSD?  And finally, if it is recommended that I move the Catalog to an external drive, what is the best way to do it?

Thanks and stay well....


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## Johan Elzenga (Mar 28, 2020)

To answer the last question first. You simply copy the entire catalog folder to the SSD, and then you start Lightroom once by double clicking the catalog file on the SSD so Lightroom knows where to find it. Make sure that in the Lightroom preferences you set the catalog to open to ‘Most recent catalog’. Running Lightroom with its catalog on an external SSD is fine, and 500 GB should give you enough room for now. But 1 TB means you’ll never have to worry about the size of the catalog folder. A bus powered SSD should be fine. Because there is no moving platter, it does not consume much power (do powered external SSD drives even exist?).


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## Replytoken (Mar 28, 2020)

I am not sure if your port will take full advantage of an NVMe external SSD, but they are designed to be faster than those that still use the older, current interface.  Here is a link to Samsung's newest X5 drive - a generation ahead of the popular T5 - Portable SSD X5 2TB Memory & Storage - MU-PB2T0B/AM | Samsung US .  Something to consider if you are willing to pay and can take advantage of the extra speed.

Good luck,

--Ken


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## clee01l (Mar 29, 2020)

If you are going to get a larger SSD (1TB)  Put it into the iMac and swap out the SSD that's there to a TB3 EHD.   OWC has instructions for replacing the iMac internal Drive.


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## CameraCarl (Mar 29, 2020)

Thank you to all who have replied. I presume from the positive replies that it makes sense to move my catalog to another drive.  I shall start shopping for an external SSD.  I think a 500GB drive ought to be sufficient: even at its largest, my top-level Lightroom folder never exceeded 300GB including the Previews, Smart Previews, Lightroom Settings folder, etc. 
(I did look at the video showing how to install a larger drive inside the computer, but I don't feel capable of  doing so, nor do I want to invalidate the remaining months on my Apple Care.)  
Any other thoughts or suggestions?


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## clee01l (Mar 29, 2020)

First, I would recommend nothing less that 1 TB.  (I have about 14TB in disk storage attached to my iMac via Thunderbolt.  It sounds like you don't have any backup disk (TimeMachine).   This is critical because sooner rather than later you primary disk will fail.  
You can upgrade the internal disk through Apple.   When Apple Stores reopen you can schedule an appointment do this but you will need to buy your replacement disk from Apple instead of OWC.


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## CameraCarl (Mar 29, 2020)

Cletus, thanks for the suggestions. Just for clarification, none of my master images are stored on my internal drive. I have all images stored on several external drives, with redundancy in (1) two Time Machine back up drives, (2) another hard drive stored off site and switched every month or so, and (3) cloud back up.  The only thing currently on the internal 512GB SSD are operating files, my Lightroom catalog, my documents, a few movies and some music.  When my Lightroom Catalog Previews and Smart Previews folders are close to empty, I have about 300GB free on my internal drive, but over time they fill up and my system starts bogging down. That is why I am considering moving the Lightroom Catalog to an external drive. I could have the Apple Store install a larger internal SSD, but that would cost many times more than the cost of an external Firewire/USB-C SSD and I wonder if  the speed difference of an internal SSD would be enough to justify the expense.


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## Zenon (Mar 29, 2020)

The catalogue is just a database so it is not not very big. I keep it on my Macs SSD. I store all files on an external drive.


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## Jim Wilde (Mar 29, 2020)

CameraCarl said:


> I could have the Apple Store install a larger internal SSD, but that would cost many times more than the cost of an external Firewire/USB-C SSD and I wonder if  the speed difference of an internal SSD would be enough to justify the expense.


Probably not. I moved my catalogs and previews folders to a USB3-connected SSD, and really didn't notice much, if any, difference.


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## clee01l (Mar 29, 2020)

CameraCarl said:


> Store install a larger internal SSD, but that would cost many times more than the cost of an external Firewire/USB-C SSD and I wonder if the speed difference of an internal SSD would be enough to justify the expense.


Price is why I suggested OWC. Firewire is obsolete technology.   Your new EHD should be TB2 or TB3. TB3 is as fast as the internal mounted drive,   Opening the iMac and swapping drives is a simple procedure once you get the back removed.  A local. computer store might be able to do it if you are intimidated.  FWIW, I've never signed up for Apple Care and never needed it.  The HDD in my last iMac died and it cost me less than an AppleCare insurance subscription to get Apple to replace it  (Of course I needed to buy the HDD  on tope of the ~$100 repair fee.)


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