Im seriously considering getting the Drobo 5d and storing all my files on it. Just wondering how well it works with aperture. I have an older drobo that does not work with aperture. thx
Im seriously considering getting the Drobo 5d and storing all my files on it. Just wondering how well it works with aperture. I have an older drobo that does not work with aperture. thx
Jim, finally took the plunge and got the 5d. Set it up today and now want to move everything over from the current EHD they are on. Can you give me a step by step breakdown of how you moved all your files over? Currently my images are on an EHD arranged (for the most part) by year month day. i have this same structure reflected in aperture just to make things easier for my self. Now, I just dont want to mess it up in the move. ANy help would be greatly appreciated. Thanks again, Katy
Katy,
My Aperture libraries are ‘managed’, i.e. everything is contained in the XXXXX.aplibrary file seen in Finder. So for me is was very simple. Copy the XXXXX.aplibrary file to the Drobo5D. Then open the XXXXX library in Aperture.
It sounds like your Aperture library is ‘referenced’ (photos located outside the XXXXX.aplibrary file). I am not experienced with referenced libraries. I will let others help there. I believe you can use the ‘relocate originals’ in the File menu. Look at Aperture Help.
Now that you have a big new Drobo5D you might consider converting to a managed library. I think it keeps things much simpler. Check out the ‘consolidate originals’ in Aperture Help.
Jim
Jim, thanks for responding. Yes I Sheba referenced library and I might change to managed. A question: are you at all concerned about the possibility of aperture somehow getting corrupted? Do you feel safe from that possibility on the Drobo? Also, do you keep your vault(s) on the Drobo or some where else? Thanks so much
Yes, Katy - always concerned about corruption. I have two vaults. One on my Drobo5D and another on my old Drobo. I also backup my Aperture library to two cloud backup services (Crashplan and Backblaze). I also do a periodic backup to a external HD that I store offsite.
Knock on wood - I have been using Aperture for about 4 years and have always been able to recover my files.
Over the years I have digitized all my old photos. They were slowly deteriorating and after scanning them I decided to destroy most of the originals. I was very hard to let go of the hard copies. This forced me to have multiple backups and become pretty disciplined about how I manage things. I works for me. The good news is that I use my photos much more than I ever did when they were sitting in albums and boxes.
Jim
Jim, sounds like you have a good system in place. Many thanks for sharing!
Slightly OT but perhaps of interest to readers: I have an original 4 bay Drobo and it works 100% fine with Aperture and has done since I bought it what must be around 4 or 5 years ago now at least.
Katy I have a droboS connected via Firwire for my reference images. I dont think Im having a problem with it. I think I need more Ram. The DroboD should be fine especially if you have thunderbolt connection. What problems do you experience now with the drobo. I do not have my lib on the drobo only the images. David
davidbmoore@mac.com
Twitter= @davidbmoore
Scottsdale AZ
David, I have the Drobo FS connected via Ethernet through an AirPort Extreme. I was able to store all of my images on it but when I tried to view the images they were all fuzzy and out of focus. Spent a lot of time working with Apple trying to fix and ended up getting a Gdrive instead to store my files. I currently use the drobo as a back up for the g drive and that seems fine.
I’m surprised you aren’t having the same problem of blurry images….perhaps the problem was that the drobo was on a shared network.
A side note, I can’t store a vault to the drobo bc it is a shared network .
I’ve been looking at the new Drobo 5d and am thinking that it will solve all my problems. It is supposed to work well with aperture, I can store my images on it, reference them in aperture, hopefully and create a vault . Just wondering if anyone has the 5d and is happy with it. Katy
Katy,
I have been using the new Drobo5D with Thunderbolt connection for my Aperture library (+32,000 images, 400GB) for about 4 months. It works great. No complaints with performance.
I recently replaced my Mac Pro with an iMac. I added the Drobo5D when I got the iMac.
I previously had my Aperture library on an internal HD in the MacPro.
My new setup is at least as fast if not faster than the old setup.
I have a 2nd gen Drobo also. I only use it for vaults. Way too slow for a Aperture library.
Jim
fyi - I also use FCP X with my events and projects on the Drobo5D.
Jim, that’s great to hear. Very encouraging, thx for sharing. What drives are you using? Katy
I bought the WD Red 3 TB. I bought my first couple on Amazon for $139. A month later they were $160. It looks like they are $150 now.
They were recommended and well rated on Amazon.
I have also used Hitachi and Seagate on my old Drobo and never had any problems.
The WDs have been fine so far.
Good luck,
Jim