I would like to store my Photos library onto an external USB Flash drive.
I have found other articles explaining that it was possible to store a Photos library onto an external USB SSD or HDD and would like to do the same on a USB Flash Drive.
The reason for the above is that a USB Flash drive (i) holds enough space,(ii) is MUCH smaller and (iii) can always be plugged in.
In the case that this is possible I have some specific questions and would very much appreciate if someone could shed some light on this.
- Is it possible to use a USB Flash drive to store a Photos library and access this library when I use the Photos app?
- Does performance greatly suffer or is acceptable when using the Photos app (browsing or editing pictures) with the above configuration?
- Would it be suggested to format the USB Flash drive to another more Mac friendly format? If yes what would be suggested?
- On the other hand, in the case that I were to use an external HDD using USB 3.0, would the performance be equal or below to using a USB Flash drive?
- Lastly would I need to remove the external drive from the exclusion list from Time Machine in the case that I wanted Time Machine to back it up?
Thanks in advance if anyone can provide some feedback.
Much Appreciated!
Best Answer
You should format the secondary storage as OS X extended and journaled. That ensures the mount of the device is quick and you don't have to wait for a full
fsck
cycle if it unmount uncleanly. The speed penalty of journaling is almost un-measurable. The speed penalty for not journaling is huge each time you mount the drive.You want OS X style ACL and permissions, so don't choose FAT or other formats if you care about speed and no bugs/issues.
Here is guidance on the actual move and measurement tools to check drive speeds if you don't simply want to time the Photos app once you've moved the folder.