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Upload iPhoto library to FTP server

P

purpleinnej

macrumors member
Original poster
Feb 8, 2010
63
2
Yigo, GU
My apologies if this has been answered. I feel certain that it has, but after hours of searching I haven't found it.

My request feels simple. I want to back up my iPhoto library on an FTP server. I have the server. I have FileZilla. I am willing to try anything else that's free. I tried just dragging and dropping the whole iPhoto libarary using FileZilla but after letting it run for 3 days straight very little progress was made. Is there a way to compress the library before uploading? Or a way to use iPhoto's built-in export feature? I only need the modified photos and titles. I don't need originals, description, faces, etc.

Any help is appreciated.
 
Hostgator. My dad set it up, so I don't know ALL the details. Just that I have the server name and a user name and password to upload with.
 
Okay, basically if you upload your iPhoto library you are breaking their ToS.

You ate NOT allowed to use their dlservers to back up your own personal files.

Even though Hostgator advertises unlimited everything, there's no such thing.

As soon as they feel that you are using more resources than what they feel is normal they will shut the whole account down until you fix the issue. And they do it without warning.

Don't do this it will only cause problems for your dad.

Trust me, I have seen this with my own eyes. I'm not giving you info I heard from someone who heard from someone.
 
Even if only temporarily? Basically I will upload it, then he will download it to his hard drive locally. I was hoping for something less cumbersome than a billion CDs. Also, I'm not 100% sure about the server. I know he switched recently... do they all pretty much have that rule?
 
purpleinnej said:
I was hoping for something less cumbersome than a billion CDs.
Click to expand...


Perhaps you should get an external harddrive... I understand you are wanting him to be able to download the library from the server, so perhaps you could just overnight the harddrive to him or even second day air... It's generally not the server you are uploading to that causes the slow speeds, but your own upload speed from your ISP... just food for thought...
 
purpleinnej said:
Even if only temporarily? Basically I will upload it, then he will download it to his hard drive locally. I was hoping for something less cumbersome than a billion CDs. Also, I'm not 100% sure about the server. I know he switched recently... do they all pretty much have that rule?
Click to expand...

Yes they all have that rule.

Why not use DropBox or Sugarsync? DropBox gives you 2GB free and Sugarsync gives you 5GB free. So you can break all the files into smaller chunks but read the FAQ on both. I don't remember if there is a single file size limit on the free accounts.

If you're willing to pay $10 for one month on either you get 50GB's with DropBox and 60GB's with Sugarsync.
 
I have an external hard drive that I use locally. I want off-site storage. I guess I'm confused because there are programs (not free) out there designed to do this. So somewhere there is an FTP server that allows it, right? It's a matter of finding a way to do it that is free. Usually the free programs aren't as user friendly, but in general I'm okay with that.
 
rocknblogger said:
Yes they all have that rule.
Click to expand...

No, they don't. It largely depends on the package you purchase from the hosting companies. If you have developers/business accounts or a dedicated server you can do pretty much what you want.
 
Roy Hobbs said:
No, they don't. It largely depends on the package you purchase from the hosting companies. If you have developers/business accounts or a dedicated server you can do pretty much what you want.
Click to expand...

On shared servers they all do. I doubt he was talking about a dedicated server.

Even on dev/bus shared account once they go over their allotted resources they'll get shut down.

Almost all ToS's are worded the same and using their servers for personal files is forbidden. As a matter of fact if your websites use too much disk space they'll shut you down also until you fix it. Some will warn you and some won't.
 
rocknblogger said:
On shared servers they all do. I doubt he was talking about a dedicated server.
Click to expand...

Real quick clarification... I'm a she, not a he.:D

Let's get past the ToS and who my server is through, etc. Let's say I'm ALLOWED to do this. Now can we move on to HOW to do it please?

Or if there's not an answer to that, short of physically mailing an EHD, what other off-site storage solutions are there? My iPhoto library is pretty much all I'm concerned about for now. I have the copy on my mac, one on an ehd in my home, and all the pics on Facebook (although if I ever had to resort to getting them OFF FB that might be a nightmare). I just want one more off-site backup to know I'm 100% covered.
 
To upload you iPhoto library, just drag it from the source to the destination.

I recommend using transmit for your ftp client, as its easy to use. Depending on the size of your iPhoto library, it will take a very very long time.

I recommend using an online backup solution, this will ease and automate the process a bit
 
maflynn said:
To upload you iPhoto library, just drag it from the source to the destination.

I recommend using transmit for your ftp client, as its easy to use. Depending on the size of your iPhoto library, it will take a very very long time.

I recommend using an online backup solution, this will ease and automate the process a bit
Click to expand...

Was this some kind of automated response? Search the forums for anything remotely related to your product and push it? A--I specifically said "free" which transmit is not. And B--I'm pretty sure its clear that I understand the concept of drag and drop. Maybe I'm coming across as more moronic than I think I am.
 
purpleinnej said:
And B--I'm pretty sure its clear that I understand the concept of drag and drop.
Click to expand...

Do you also understand the concept of "Google" ? Because a Google search for "free OS X FTP Client" yields several unambiguous results. Every modern GUI-based FTP client I'm aware of supports drag and drop.

Also, maflynn is a Macrumors moderator (not associated with Transmit) who was recommending the best FTP client for the operating system. If you're going to throw away money by hosting personal files against Hostgator's ToS, one can assume you can spare out the minimal cost for Transmit.
 
miles01110 said:
Do you also understand the concept of "Google" ? Because a Google search for "free OS X FTP Client" yields several unambiguous results. Every modern GUI-based FTP client I'm aware of supports drag and drop.

Also, maflynn is a Macrumors moderator (not associated with Transmit) who was recommending the best FTP client for the operating system. If you're going to throw away money by hosting personal files against Hostgator's ToS, one can assume you can spare out the minimal cost for Transmit.
Click to expand...


Well said!
 
purpleinnej said:
Was this some kind of automated response? Search the forums for anything remotely related to your product and push it? A--I specifically said "free" which transmit is not. And B--I'm pretty sure its clear that I understand the concept of drag and drop. Maybe I'm coming across as more moronic than I think I am.
Click to expand...

Wow, dude, I'm trying to be helpful, chill out. I have no idea what your skill level is. We get all sorts of questions at all sorts of skill levels. I use transmit which is very useful app, and it has a trial version for you to see if it fits your needs. There's other free apps out there I believe cyberduck is one version, there's also the command line interface that's built into OSX. Either way I was trying to point you in the right direct.
 
Sorry, I really thought it was an automated response, not realizing the poster was an admin. I'm beyond frustrated with this and just trying to figure out an answer, so getting what I thought was an ad post was irritating to me. I will perform said google search. Yes, I've searched before but with different phrasing that didn't produce anything realistic. I'm not planning on violating any ToS, I'll make sure what they are for our particular server (not even sure it's Hostgator) before proceeding. Thanks everyone for your help.
 
Let me start by saying that I love this forum. I rarely post, but this is my most trusted source for any Mac advice and has been for years.

That said, this must be the rudest, least helpful thread I have ever read. I found it while searching for suggestions on a better FTP client than FileZilla to sync/backup my 12,000+ image/mov iPhoto library to my unlimited online storage.

And yes, it really is unlimited and only costs me $2 per month. Flame away, but I routinely upload hundreds of gigs worth of data at over 1MB/s over my school's connection.

To the OP: I agree, I have the same frustration with the iPhoto library (which is what brought me to this thread). I assume the problem is the enormous number of tiny files rather than the amount of data.

Thanks maflynn for the client recommendations :)
 
purpleinnej said:
Even if only temporarily? Basically I will upload it, then he will download it to his hard drive locally. I was hoping for something less cumbersome than a billion CDs. Also, I'm not 100% sure about the server. I know he switched recently... do they all pretty much have that rule?
Click to expand...
If that's what you're doing you should probably remove the middleman of somebody else's storage and setup an FTP server on your dad's machine. It's not too hard; somebody else already posted up a link. If you're going to do this periodically, it's probably the cheapest and easiest to setup.
 
Old thread, I know, but the original question never got adequately answered and I had the same question (and Google led me here).

** Edited **

I tried using Transmit with the "Mount as Disk" option to export directly to an FTP connection mounted as a disk. Sadly, it didn't work. I traded some email with Thomas at Panic, Inc (the creators of Transmit) and he confirmed that the only current way to do this is to export the images from iPhoto to your local file system and then manually upload them to FTP (or wherever). Thomas explained that the with the Mount as Disk option in use, Transmit attempts to immediately upload the files being written by iPhoto. The export process from iPhoto takes more time than normal file writing and this delay causes the FTP upload to fail.

For now it appears that there is not obvious way to get photos from iPhoto to an FTP server without it being a two-step process, using the local file system as a pass-through.
 
Last edited:
purpleinnej said:
My apologies if this has been answered. I feel certain that it has, but after hours of searching I haven't found it.

My request feels simple. I want to back up my iPhoto library on an FTP server. I have the server. I have FileZilla. I am willing to try anything else that's free. I tried just dragging and dropping the whole iPhoto libarary using FileZilla but after letting it run for 3 days straight very little progress was made. Is there a way to compress the library before uploading? Or a way to use iPhoto's built-in export feature? I only need the modified photos and titles. I don't need originals, description, faces, etc.

Any help is appreciated.
Click to expand...

I've posted a new version of PhotoUpLink for iPhoto (a 32 / 64 bit universal app so it works in the new Mavericks iPhoto version 9.4.7 as well as the previous 9.4.3 version on Mountain Lion) that lets you FTP directly from the Export menu

http://uplink.to/home/photouplink/photouplink-for-iphoto/
 
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