Storage - External & NAS

[PandDLong]

I am using a Microsoft Surface Laptop and currently the internal SSD has everything on it - Windows, apps, iMatch Catalogue and photos/videos.  So far I have no issues but I will be ramping up my photo volume and also making the photos accessible to others - thus I need to add some storage.   (It will likely still be less than 1 TB)

I will get a NAS to simplify others getting access to the photos and videos (as well as potential to use the TV for video streaming).  I will make all of these photos/videos a copy of those that iMatch is managing - this will make sure there are no conflicts and puts a protective bubble around my iMatch managed folders.

A couple questions:

1. Is it a good idea to have iMatch managed folders on the NAS or is it quite a performance hit when writing metadata and/or viewing in iMatch (all jpeg and no cached images)?

2. Is it better to add external storage for the laptop (through USB connection)?  Should I be looking for a disk enclosure and put in a SSD drive or is a simple credit card sized, USB cable connected 500 GB external SSD going to be about the same?  (So many options online I have gotten a little confused).

Thanks in advance.

Michael

[Carlo Didier]

I also have iMatch managed folders on my NAS (a low end Synology connected via 1GBit ethernet).
Works without issues so far. BUT: only older folders which I rarely touch anymore are on the NAS. The recent folders are on a local SSD.

[Mario]

NAS systems are great for long-term archival. And as long as it is accessible from Windows, IMatch will manage your files just fine.

That being said, the performance difference between files stored on your local SSD and a NAS is considerable. Accessing data on a NAS can be 100 times slower than accessing data on a local SSD.
I agree with Carlo to put only finished files on the NAS, after completing editing and metadata updates locally. This gives you the smoothest workflow.

See also IMatch and NAS Systems (Network-Attached Storage) and Configuring Process Control for Slow Media (CD-ROM, DVD, NAS, ...) in the IMatch knowledge base.

[PandDLong]

Thanks - that's exactly the type of information I was seeking.

Mario - those knowledge base articles were useful - I hadn't thought of searching there, I only searched the forum.  Duly noted for next time.

Michael