MBP storage solution suggestions. Please.

I own a 13"MBP with a recently upgraded 750GB hard drive. I have a decent size iTunes library (40GB) and about 150GB of photos, but both are growing rather fast. Originally I upgraded the hard drive to be able to accommodate having all these files. But as my libraries grow, I don't want to have to change drives again.
My question:
Is there a way to be able to have access to my photo and music libraries without having them stored directly on my MBP? This is the only computer in our house.

I thought of a large external drive connected to my airport extreme, but I'm not sure how that will perform when it comes to accessing files and such.

Suggestions will be greatly appreciated.

Thanks!

You can do a local external, but it will only be available when it is plugged in. Connected to the Airport, it may be slightly sluggish. How often do you use the optical drive? Have you thought about swapping that for another hard drive?

Stretch said:

You can do a local external, but it will only be available when it is plugged in. Connected to the Airport, it may be slightly sluggish. How often do you use the optical drive? Have you thought about swapping that for another hard drive?

Click to expand...

That was honestly the only solution I could come up with (local external) then speeding up my MBP by putting in an SSD. If I have a large enough SSD, I could keep my iTunes library on it and only have to use the local external HD for the photos.

Will it make a huge difference wether I connect it to the airport extreme via USB or network. I only ask because I have a large enough external drive I could use, but it's USB only.

Thanks for your response BTW.

Consider: With a library that large, what happens if your internal hard drive crashes and can no longer be accessed? Things like photos are irreplaceable if lost. You definitely need a good reliable backup solution with probably some redundancy built in.

As to the speed.... the external solution is likely going to be faster provided you use Firewire or even ($$) thunderbolt if your Mac supports it.

I like the network connected drive idea only because it won't require any plugging in when I'm home to access those files.

Only question is: What happens when I am not at home and I use my macbook (like on a trip) to save and share my photos? When I return home, I will have to import them once again into the library on the network drive. RIght?

I may just be over thinking all this. lol!

Thanks

iCloud?

CrimsonRequiem said:

iCloud?

Click to expand...

Not sure what you mean. I use iCould, but how could that be of use for photos while away from my network attached drive?

Stretch said:

You can do a local external, but it will only be available when it is plugged in. Connected to the Airport, it may be slightly sluggish. How often do you use the optical drive? Have you thought about swapping that for another hard drive?

Click to expand...

Just did a bit more research on swapping my optical drive out. Optibay seems like would be a possible solution. I can pick up one of those for about $99 and stick my current drive in that giving me plenty of storage. Then I can get an SSD to run the OS on leaving my pics and iTunes library on the optibay drive.

Will that suck up some major battery though?

I use a MacMini for my iTunes with a 4TB drive hooked directly up to the computer. This drive is strictly for iTunes, as my library has now reached 1.25 TB. I have a 2nd USB drive hooked up to the MacMini (1 TB) that is strictly for Time Machine backups.

Attached to my Airport Extreme's USB port is a 1 TB drive that is the Time Machine drive for my MBP only. Also attached to an Ethernet Port on the Airport Extreme is a 3 TB drive (WD Live or something like that) that is for my videos and photos and documents. It is accessible to both my computers and my iPad/iPhone via the WD App.

There are many ways of hooking up different storage solutions. You need to determine what you want to do with the storage, and where you want to access it from. Only you know your needs...

I haven't noticed any real loss of battery life since running dual drives. With most of your data libraries on the HDD, it won't be spooling up constantly unless you are accessing the media on it. SSDs seem to have a positive increase on battery life, if any.

I simply use three external drives

One 1TB for my Time Machine, one 1TB drive for my photos, photos are also backed to a 500 GB Satellite wifi drive that I can also use with my iPad.

Paranoid that I am (I am a photographer), I also have the photos on the HDD of a PC at home, backed to four separate 1TB drives.

Fire in the home? No problem, I only lost five copies. Still have three at the office. Fire at the office? No problem, have five copies at home.