Using DB from external SSD - is it OK?

[bekesizl]

Hi,

After reading the documentation I still have one question I would like to ask here.

I am a hobby/family photograph, using it mostly on trips/vacations. I also have some older photographs in my library.

I was using IMatch on a desktop PC, everything is running fine. My photos were on this PC, scattered on the 2 HDDs and 1 SSD, internal in this PC.

I bought a relative powerful laptop to be able to also do some editing and categorizing the photos while on the road.

The laptops internal SSD is too small for my collection, so I bought an external SSD (Samsung Shield T7).
I set up Syncovery to copy the photos between desktop PC internal drives and the new external SSD.
I also relocated my IMatch library to the external SSD, so my database is now referencing the external SSD.

I would now like to sometimes use my new laptop instead of the older desktop PC on some/most occasions.

Having read the "Travelling with IMatch" and "Installing IMatch on a new computer" sections of the help it is clear, that a pack&go or syncing the database and settings between the external SSD and the internal drives would be a working way.

But would it be safe/working to have the DB on the external SSD and use it from there on both machines?
I can set the same drive letter on both machines for my files.

[Mario]

Should work just fine. I have several databases on external SSDs to make switching computers easily.

As long as the external SSD is reliable, of course.

Compared to an internal m.2 SSD, external SSDs add a lot more "points of failure", from the encasing to the cable, socket, connector, ...

Make backups of your database and the other data on the SDD, and keep the verified backups for several weeks.
If you make a backup of your database (and all your other important files) daily, you can loose only one day of work if the SSD dies. Or your computer. Or your new laptop.

[bekesizl]

Thank you very much! It is good to know, that it is working already for you.

I will try it with DB on external SSD.
I will use Syncovery to backup the DB to multiple places.

The raise of the possible points of failure is clear.
I might also choose to temporarily to copy the DB to the internal SSD and work from there.

One more question: if I set a user alias, will I be able to use it on both machines?

[Mario]

One more question: if I set a user alias, will I be able to use it on both machines? 

The Alias is only needed when you have different user names on both machines. Then make the user name from computer A the Alias on computer B.