iMac and remove photos from iCloud

[bwfc0907]

Hi - I travel quite a bit plus have a family and my iCloud storage of 2TB + 2TB is getting full. Due to drone footage (imported) and the sheer volume of family sharing photos I need a new solution.

I have an iMac (M1), iPad and iPhone. I feel my only option is to store photos locally as both the cost of storage and the fact that I will continue to fill my storage will become an issue.

What are my options to store my photos locally?

Is it possible to use the iMac as some sort of server if I connected a hard drive to it. Would this give me access to my photos on my iPhone?

Any thoughts and suggestions are welcome.

 

[russell_314]

Hi - I travel quite a bit plus have a family and my iCloud storage of 2GB + 2GB is getting full. Due to drone footage (imported) and the sheer volume of family sharing photos I need a new solution.

I have an iMac (M1), iPad and iPhone. I feel my only option is to store photos locally as both the cost of storage and the fact that I will continue to fill my storage will become an issue.

What are my options to store my photos locally?

Is it possible to use the iMac as some sort of server if I connected a hard drive to it. Would this give me access to my photos on my iPhone?

Any thoughts and suggestions are welcome.

What I think you’re asking about is a network attached storage device or NAS. A popular brand would be Synology. Yes, you can access them remotely, but there’s a lot of factors like the upload speed of your network connection and security you have to be careful with. I’ve always wanted to do this but could never justify the cost for my needs.

I would suggest taking whatever drone footage or video that you’re not using or need an archive it on an external drive. If it’s just something you don’t actually look at on a regular basis, but don’t want to delete this would be the perfect solution. Of course back it up on a second external drive if it’s important.

The problem with iCloud is it’s very great so you can access everything but if you’re someone that doesn’t like to delete anything to include your grandparents wedding video from 1957 that you’ll never watch then it can be bogged down.

 

[HobeSoundDarryl]

It reads like video is hogging up huge iCloud Photos storage so download your videos to local Photos (app) storage (or better yet, move them to a folder(s) and index them in the TV app instead), leaving only photos in iCloud. That will free up a LOT of space. As you shoot new video, do the same.

Else, download ALL of your iCloud Photos content to iMac Photos (and/or TV app). If you do this, you may find you can stop paying for iCloud entirely and just use the free 5GB space. If not, address the other big data hogs (usually forever open iMessages chats (just close them and start new conversations next time) and/or Mail (prune that inbox).

Before there was an iCloud, we all stored all of photos in iPhoto, which was the predecessor of Photos. Photos does this just as well and I do that myself. Because I do want a small selection of a total photos library with me at all times, I created a few Photo Albums in the Photos app and then sync just the albums to my mobile device. They take up a relatively small amount of space but are basically the best photos of my collection.

If you want to retain the iCloud-like ability to share photos (and videos) with others but don't want to keep paying more and more rent, get yourself a NAS such as the ones from Synology. One of the apps you can run on a NAS creates your own cloud that you own. You can then pay yourself $0/month for WHATEVER amount of cloud storage you want on it. Another app on Synology is their version of iCloud Photos... with you- again- owning your own cloud so that you don't need to pay monthly rent to use it. And then you can share access to those photos with others if you like.

iMac probably CAN stand in for a Synology with the right mix of software and setup but I've always used a dedicated NAS for NAS-like tasks. So someone else will need to chime in with that kind of solution. I know "home sharing" can be an easy way to share media with others on the same network, so those videos indexed in the TV app could easily be shared with others within the household and/or easily accessed and viewed on AppleTVs within the home.

 

[bwfc0907]

What I think you’re asking about is a network attached storage device or NAS. A popular brand would be Synology. Yes, you can access them remotely, but there’s a lot of factors like the upload speed of your network connection and security you have to be careful with. I’ve always wanted to do this but could never justify the cost for my needs.

I would suggest taking whatever drone footage or video that you’re not using or need an archive it on an external drive. If it’s just something you don’t actually look at on a regular basis, but don’t want to delete this would be the perfect solution. Of course back it up on a second external drive if it’s important.

The problem with iCloud is it’s very great so you can access everything but if you’re someone that doesn’t like to delete anything to include your grandparents wedding video from 1957 that you’ll never watch then it can be bogged down.

I suppose many of us will hit the same problem over time and unless you use the HDD solution it’s going to be a challenge.

I suppose the best solution is a HDD manual export with a second HDD as back up. Still allowing me to retain some photos in the cloud. Just dragging the photos library will give me multiple libraries as I would keep deleting some photos from the last library.

Long term this many be a challenge for a lot of basic users who don’t understand how to retain those photos once iCloud type storage is full.

 

[bwfc0907]

It reads like video is hogging up huge iCloud Photos storage so download your videos to local Photos (app) storage (or better yet, move them to a folder(s) and index them in the TV app instead), leaving only photos in iCloud. That will free up a LOT of space. As you shoot new video, do the same.

Else, download ALL of your iCloud Photos content to iMac Photos (and/or TV app). If you do this, you may find you can stop paying for iCloud entirely and just use the free 5GB space. If not, address the other big data hogs (usually forever open iMessages chats (just close them and start new conversations next time) and/or Mail (prune that inbox).

Before there was an iCloud, we all stored all of photos in iPhoto, which was the predecessor of Photos. Photos does this just as well and I do that myself. Because I do want a small selection of a total photos library with me at all times, I created a few Photo Albums in the Photos app and then sync just the albums to my mobile device. They take up a relatively small amount of space but are basically the best photos of my collection.

If you want to retain the iCloud-like ability to share photos (and videos) with others but don't want to keep paying more and more rent, get yourself a NAS such as the ones from Synology. One of the apps you can run on a NAS creates your own cloud that you own. You can then pay yourself $0/month for WHATEVER amount of cloud storage you want on it. Another app on Synology is their version of iCloud Photos... with you- again- owning your own cloud so that you don't need to pay monthly rent to use it. And then you can share access to those photos with others if you like.

iMac probably CAN stand in for a Synology with the right mix of software and setup but I've always used a dedicated NAS for NAS-like tasks. So someone else will need to chime in with that kind of solution. I know "home sharing" can be an easy way to share media with others on the same network, so those videos indexed in the TV app could easily be shared with others within the household and/or easily accessed and viewed on AppleTVs within the home.

So just to understand when iPhoto was a thing we created the album and we actually had an organised file structure but with iCloud I have to manually export and then create a file structure?

Like the NAS idea - is this a difficult thing to set up?
Can you only access the photos I would store on it through a web browser, or is it through an app. Or could my photos be backed up directly from the apple photos app?

 

[HobeSoundDarryl]

So just to understand when iPhoto was a thing we created the album and we actually had an organised file structure but with iCloud I have to manually export and then create a file structure?

iPhoto became Photos. In many ways, they are quite similar.

What's different is that late iPhoto is when iCloud came to be, which then led to Apple strategies of motivating people to store photos in iCloud... which leads to overloaded iCloud space... which leads to paying more and more to store more pics & videos in iCloud (your current problem). As you anticipate, that will only get worse and worse requiring more monthly rent for more iCloud space.

So you can pull your pics & videos DOWN from iCloud to store locally in Photos (app). When they are all local, you don't need all that space for photos in iCloud anymore... because now you possess them instead of trusting strangers in "the cloud" to possess them for you. This is exactly what we all did before there was an iCloud. We all acted as caretakers of our own media. And we can still do that today.

When you shoot new pics & videos, link camera/iDevice to Mac and import them directly into the Photos app- no iCloud required. If you want a subset of "all" of them on your iDevice, make 1+ Photos albums and then sync those albums back to iDevice. Think of this like the modern equivalent of carrying a subset of all paper photos around in a wallet.

Photos basically creates & manages a "file structure" in the background, organizing your photos and videos in various ways for easy viewing.

Optionally you can break out videos to external storage, which will then free up a LOT of space from the Photos library. The TV app can then take over as index-er of personal video files and it can do all kinds of nice things like stream such videos to all devices around the home (via home sharing), including AppleTVs. This seems like a very good target for you.

Like the NAS idea - is this a difficult thing to set up?

I didn't find it difficult. Synology has wizard-based setups. Answer questions in the setup wizards to set it up. I'm fairly technically sharp though so maybe it is not as easy as that reads.

A NAS is basically a simple computer with BIG storage. Synology even allows one to start with an amount of storage and easily add to it when they need more. For example, if you start with maybe 3 hard drive (HDDs) but then need more storage, you can add another drive to expand the pool of storage. They revolve around a storage concept called RAID, which- overly simply- allows you to pool a number of drives together as if they are one larger drive. Different RAID configurations offer various benefits such as some internal backup and faster read/writes. Here's their storage calculator with which you can "what if."

You can choose NAS boxes with "bays" for HDDs. More bays means you can add more HDDs over time. For example, if you chose an 8-bay and loaded it with 3 HDDs for starters, you still have 5 empty bays for future expansion. You can also replace a drive with a bigger drive to grow the storage pool too. So, for example, let's imagine you start with 3 drives at- say- 6TB each but later replace one of them with a 12TB drive, the net gain is 6 more TBs of storage within the same bay.

NAS is a big concept so you should read up on it to get your brain around it. However, it's not hugely different than your idea of attaching some drives to the iMac and then the iMac being the brains of that storage. This would simply be a computer especially designed for that kind of thing. It would have a bunch of bays into which you can insert drives for storage. Its own apps can then give you your own free cloud storage, your own cloud photos manager, your own whole home DVR, your own security video monitoring system, etc.

 

[ger19]

Hi - I travel quite a bit plus have a family and my iCloud storage of 2GB + 2GB is getting full. Due to drone footage (imported) and the sheer volume of family sharing photos I need a new solution.

Are you really talking about 2GB + 2GB? Or do you mean 2TB? If you’re maxing out your 5GB of free space, just get 50GB for $1 per month. If you need TB, then yes, off loading or a NAS may be your best solution. 2TB of iCloud storage is $9.99/month.

 

[bwfc0907]

Are you really talking about 2GB + 2GB? Or do you mean 2TB? If you’re maxing out your 5GB of free space, just get 50GB for $1 per month. If you need TB, then yes, off loading or a NAS may be your best solution. 2TB of iCloud storage is $9.99/month.

Great spot - have amended to TB 😂

 

[bwfc0907]

Are you really talking about 2GB + 2GB? Or do you mean 2TB? If you’re maxing out your 5GB of free space, just get 50GB for $1 per month. If you need TB, then yes, off loading or a NAS may be your best solution. 2TB of iCloud storage is $9.99/month.

Great spot - have amended to TB

iPhoto became Photos. In many ways, they are quite similar.

What's different is that late iPhoto is when iCloud came to be, which then led to Apple strategies of motivating people to store photos in iCloud... which leads to overloaded iCloud space... which leads to paying more and more to store more pics & videos in iCloud (your current problem). As you anticipate, that will only get worse and worse requiring more monthly rent for more iCloud space.

So you can pull your pics & videos DOWN from iCloud to store locally in Photos (app). When they are all local, you don't need all that space for photos in iCloud anymore... because now you possess them instead of trusting strangers in "the cloud" to possess them for you. This is exactly what we all did before there was an iCloud. We all acted as caretakers of our own media. And we can still do that today.

When you shoot new pics & videos, link camera/iDevice to Mac and import them directly into the Photos app- no iCloud required. If you want a subset of "all" of them on your iDevice, make 1+ Photos albums and then sync those albums back to iDevice. Think of this like the modern equivalent of carrying a subset of all paper photos around in a wallet.

Photos basically creates & manages a "file structure" in the background, organizing your photos and videos in various ways for easy viewing.

Optionally you can break out videos to external storage, which will then free up a LOT of space from the Photos library. The TV app can then take over as index-er of personal video files and it can do all kinds of nice things like stream such videos to all devices around the home (via home sharing), including AppleTVs. This seems like a very good target for you.



I didn't find it difficult. Synology has wizard-based setups. Answer questions in the setup wizards to set it up. I'm fairly technically sharp though so maybe it is not as easy as that reads.

A NAS is basically a simple computer with BIG storage. Synology even allows one to start with an amount of storage and easily add to it when they need more. For example, if you start with maybe 3 hard drive (HDDs) but then need more storage, you can add another drive to expand the pool of storage. They revolve around a storage concept called RAID, which- overly simply- allows you to pool a number of drives together as if they are one larger drive. Different RAID configurations offer various benefits such as some internal backup and faster read/writes. Here's their storage calculator with which you can "what if."

You can choose NAS boxes with "bays" for HDDs. More bays means you can add more HDDs over time. For example, if you chose an 8-bay and loaded it with 3 HDDs for starters, you still have 5 empty bays for future expansion. You can also replace a drive with a bigger drive to grow the storage pool too. So, for example, let's imagine you start with 3 drives at- say- 6TB each but later replace one of them with a 12TB drive, the net gain is 6 more TBs of storage within the same bay.

NAS is a big concept so you should read up on it to get your brain around it. However, it's not hugely different than your idea of attaching some drives to the iMac and then the iMac being the brains of that storage. This would simply be a computer especially designed for that kind of thing. It would have a bunch of bays into which you can insert drives for storage. Its own apps can then give you your own free cloud storage, your own cloud photos manager, your own whole home DVR, your own security video monitoring system, etc.

if we stick to the initial thought of using my iMac how do I only get it to import photos not already stored on the HDD.

I actually have a 2TB SSD connected to the Mac storing the original photos but that is full so need to make a decision.

Can you use Home Sharing outside the home and how does that work if I got a full copy of my photos downloaded to a HDD connected to my Mac - could I access them all on iDevices.

I’ll go through each suggestion one at a time if ok

 

[HobeSoundDarryl]

if we stick to the initial thought of using my iMac how do I only get it to import photos not already stored on the HDD.

Presuming you do NOT have the internal space for 2TB of photos, the Photos library will need to be stored on an external drive. If you have a BIG external drive, that will be where to move the Photos library and then you can import up to all 2TB of originals from that existing 2TB drive. In other words, I don't know that you can use your existing drive as you are presumably adding new drone video and photos. If me, based on what I'm reading, I'd be attaching a BIG HDD- perhaps 6-10TB minimum- for present and future photos & videos storage. A media drive doesn't have to be SSD. HDD is fine. It's plenty speedy for looking at one picture at a time or watching 1 video at a time.

Assuming you have to buy this, consider buying 1-2 more and get yourself a good backup system going to protect against this drive (and or iMac internal) conking. The built-in Time Machine can make this easy. Full backup TWICE and store one of the 2 offsite, regularly rotating with the one onsite so the offsite one is always a fresh backup. This onsite-offsite backup approach protects against very real fire-flood-theft situations.

I actually have a 2TB SSD connected to the Mac storing the original photos but that is full so need to make a decision.

Since this is towards full, I'd have an eye towards repurposing this drive for other things once you have the above in place. It's just not big enough for adding more photos & videos. You've basically outgrown it. Thus, when you replace it, go BIG so that you don't quickly outgrow the replacement. There are up to 28TB HDDs available now. Be sure you buy yourself plenty of space for the future.

Can you use Home Sharing outside the home

It's not made for that. There may be some hacks but that would be complicated. It's really made for sharing media while on the home network. When you want cloud-like benefits, that's where you either rent iCloud space or similar or own your own cloud with a NAS.

If it's about having photos and vids with YOU when you are on the go, perhaps do the above and then create some albums of photos & videos from ALL photos that you feel you need with you when away from home and then copy all of those to the existing 2TB SSD. Throw that drive in the bag and have those with you wherever you go.

If it's about other people having access, you probably need to go NAS or keep paying iCloud or similar rent.

and how does that work if I got a full copy of my photos downloaded to a HDD connected to my Mac - could I access them all on iDevices.

Home sharing readily shares media but it doesn't include Photo library sharing with other Macs & Devices for editing purposes. Photo libraries are considered a single user library. You can share a single library via home sharing so that it is accessible on AppleTV and similar but other users can't add to it as if it is a group Photo library. Each user in the home would have their own Photo library.

A shared library that can be edited by multiple people is where the NAS option comes into play... or cloud options.

 

[Regulus67]

I think I would use a Mac Pro 4.1 or 5.1 as storage unit these days. As they are cheap and fit 4 hard disks. And they are rather quiet.
I have a Mac Pro 3.1 with El Capitan and the server app installed. Which is great for storing stuff I rarely access.

 

[bwfc0907]

Presuming you do NOT have the internal space for 2TB of photos, the Photos library will need to be stored on an external drive. If you have a BIG external drive, that will be where to move the Photos library and then you can import up to all 2TB of originals from that existing 2TB drive. In other words, I don't know that you can use your existing drive as you are presumably adding new drone video and photos. If me, based on what I'm reading, I'd be attaching a BIG HDD- perhaps 6-10TB minimum- for present and future photos & videos storage. A media drive doesn't have to be SSD. HDD is fine. It's plenty speedy for looking at one picture at a time or watching 1 video at a time.

Assuming you have to buy this, consider buying 1-2 more and get yourself a good backup system going to protect against this drive (and or iMac internal) conking. The built-in Time Machine can make this easy. Full backup TWICE and store one of the 2 offsite, regularly rotating with the one onsite so the offsite one is always a fresh backup. This onsite-offsite backup approach protects against very real fire-flood-theft situations.



Since this is towards full, I'd have an eye towards repurposing this drive for other things once you have the above in place. It's just not big enough for adding more photos & videos. You've basically outgrown it. Thus, when you replace it, go BIG so that you don't quickly outgrow the replacement. There are up to 28TB HDDs available now. Be sure you buy yourself plenty of space for the future.



It's not made for that. There may be some hacks but that would be complicated. It's really made for sharing media while on the home network. When you want cloud-like benefits, that's where you either rent iCloud space or similar or own your own cloud with a NAS.

If it's about having photos and vids with YOU when you are on the go, perhaps do the above and then create some albums of photos & videos from ALL photos that you feel you need with you when away from home and then copy all of those to the existing 2TB SSD. Throw that drive in the bag and have those with you wherever you go.

If it's about other people having access, you probably need to go NAS or keep paying iCloud or similar rent.



Home sharing readily shares media but it doesn't include Photo sharing with other Macs & Devices. Photo libraries are considered a single user library. You can share a single library via home sharing so that it is accessible on AppleTV and similar but other users can't add to it as if it is a group Photo library. Each user in the home would have their own Photo library.

A shared library that can be edited by multiple people is where the NAS option comes into play.

So to be clear if I attach a HDD say 8TB to an iMac and store all photos in the apple photo library it makes sharing photos with my wife extremely difficult. I could get rid of my iCloud but would need to import photos every so often from my iPhone to ensure I have copies of all new photos?

Completely agree regarding the need for a backup and using Time Machine would just make the back up of the photos easier?

In addition, I couldn’t access them away from home (which may or may not be a problem for me personally) but could access them at home via home sharing.

 

[bwfc0907]

I think I would use a Mac Pro 4.1 or 5.1 as storage unit these days. As they are cheap and fit 4 hard disks. And they are rather quiet.
I have a Mac Pro 3.1 with El Capitan and the server app installed. Which is great for storing stuff I rarely access.

I assume this would be similar to a Nas (if not the same thing)?

 

[Regulus67]

I assume this would be similar to a Nas (if not the same thing)?

Yes, you can set up shared folders. Easy to access over the network. But you also have the full mac experience if you need it. I would install the latest macOS supported by Apple on the machine.
And it has two gigabit network ports if that is an advantage for your use case

 

[HobeSoundDarryl]

So to be clear if I attach a HDD say 8TB to an iMac and store all photos in the apple photo library it makes sharing photos with my wife extremely difficult.

Share for her to see? Home Sharing can make it possible to SEE your photos or select photo albums... but not edit them like it's her Photos library too unless she does it as you on your Mac. If you only want her to be able to browse all photos or select photos albums (which can include the videos too), Home Sharing can do that.

If it's only a selection of photos, you could create an iCloud album(s) in the free (or paid) space and share some photos there and then share access to that album with your wife.

If you want a shared pool of photos that both of you can edit/delete/add to/etc, that's NAS territory if you want it to be easy... or stick with iCloud, which is basically functioning as a rented NAS in this way.

I could get rid of my iCloud but would need to import photos every so often from my iPhone to ensure I have copies of all new photos?

Yes, just connect your device, open Photos app on Mac and import new photos. It's easy. Basically, every time I return from some travels where I've taken new pics or videos, I just make this one of the steps when I next sit down at the Mac.

Completely agree regarding the need for a backup and using Time Machine would just make the back up of the photos easier?

Yes. TM can backup your Mac, the wife's Mac, the photos and vids, etc. Others prefer similar apps called Carbon Copy Cloner or Super Duper. But the key idea is to back up, ideally to a readily accessible drive onsite AND a pretty fresh drive offsite (which tends to be easiest to manage by just regularly swapping the onsite drive with the offsite drive).

In addition, I couldn’t access them away from home (which may or may not be a problem for me personally) but could access them at home via home sharing.

Yes at home. To access them when away in simple ways, copy them to the 2TB SSD you already own and take that with you OR keep using iCloud or similar OR buy a NAS and own your own cloud.

There is remote access for Mac but I don't use it so I don't have much to offer on the topic. If you want to set that up, you could login to your Mac while away and access anything you want. If you need a file or photo transferred to you, you could put it in the free iCloud space and then access it on whatever device you have with you.

 

[bwfc0907]

Share for her to see? Home Sharing can make it possible to SEE your photos or select photo albums... but not edit them like it's her Photos library too unless she does it as you on your Mac. If you only want her to be able to browse all photos or select photos albums (which can include the videos too), Home Sharing can do that.

If it's only a selection of photos, you could create an iCloud album(s) in the free (or paid) space and share some photos there and then share access to that album with your wife.

If you want a shared pool of photos that both of you can edit/delete/add to/etc, that's NAS territory if you want it to be easy... or stick with iCloud, which is basically functioning as a rented NAS in this way.



Yes, just connect your device, open Photos app on Mac and import new photos. It's easy. Basically, every time I return from some travels where I've taken new pics or videos, I just make this one of the steps when I next sit down at the Mac.



Yes. TM can backup your Mac, the wife's Mac, the photos and vids, etc. Others prefer similar apps called Carbon Copy Cloner or Super Duper. But the key idea is to back up, ideally to a readily accessible drive onsite AND a pretty fresh drive offsite (which tends to be easiest to manage by just regularly swapping the onsite drive with the offsite drive).



Yes at home. To access them when away in simple ways, copy them to the 2TB SSD you already own and take that with you OR keep using iCloud or similar OR buy a NAS and own your own cloud.

There is remote access for Mac but I don't use it so I don't have much to offer on the topic. If you want to set that up, you could login to your Mac while away and access anything you want. If you need a file or photo transferred to you, you could put it in the free iCloud space and then access it on whatever device you have with you.

All makes sense and extremely well explained, thank you.

Just to confirm my understanding and summarise - HDD connected to my Mac if happy to access at home (through iMac or Home Sharing), alternatively NAS will allow me to access anywhere but I would still need to import photos to either of these methods each time I want to save them if I only have say the 5GB iCloud limit. Other choice is to retain iCloud but with prices this could become even more expensive.

With a NAS would I look at photos using a separate app to the apple photos app?

Is there anyway of accessing the photos through the Apple Photos app if not using iCloud?

 

[HobeSoundDarryl]

All makes sense and extremely well explained, thank you.

Just to confirm my understanding and summarise - HDD connected to my Mac if happy to access at home (through iMac or Home Sharing),

Yes. HDD or SSD but HDD will be much cheaper and you can buy much bigger storage so you have plenty of room for future photos & videos (and anything else you want to store on them). Go BIG here so you don't "run out" again anytime soon.

alternatively NAS will allow me to access anywhere but I would still need to import photos to either of these methods each time I want to save them if I only have say the 5GB iCloud limit.

Yes.

Other choice is to retain iCloud but with prices this could become even more expensive.

It will become more expensive as you keep needing more and more space. The tiers and their pricing is on Apple's website.

With a NAS would I look at photos using a separate app to the apple photos app?

Separate app: example if Synology NAS. Photos app is integrated with local storage on Mac and iCloud.

Is there anyway of accessing the photos through the Apple Photos app if not using iCloud?

Locally on your own network or at your Mac. Else, iCloud.

On iDevices, any Photos synched to the iDevice are accessible through the iDevice version of Photos- no iCloud required.

 

[ignatius345]

Is there anyway of accessing the photos through the Apple Photos app if not using iCloud?

I believe you can still manually sync your iPhone with your Mac directly and have it physically copy photos directly to the phone. That's now handled in the Finder, by plugging the iPhone into the Mac. I don't think you can do it wirelessly.

I'm also unclear on whether the sync goes in both directions or what. I am pretty sure that you have to copy the full resolution images over, which is going to eat into the phone's storage. (Doing it via iCloud of course lets you keep only low-res thumbnails on the phone, downloading full resolution images on demand when you click on them.)

I think if I was in your situation, I'd start separating out those high-res drone videos you mention and syncing those some other way, and would leave a slimmed down Photos database to sync via iCloud for convenience. Maybe that won't cut it, but thinking there could be a way to get the best of both worlds.

 

[bwfc0907]

Yes, you can set up shared folders. Easy to access over the network. But you also have the full mac experience if you need it. I would install the latest macOS supported by Apple on the machine.
And it has two gigabit network ports if that is an advantage for your use case

Had a Quick Look at this but a little confused what 3.1 means - what year are you suggesting as year of manufacture. Some of the MacPros are too big for the space I would want to use

 

[bwfc0907]

Yes. HDD or SSD but HDD will be much cheaper and you can buy much bigger storage so you have plenty of room for future photos & videos (and anything else you want to store on them). Go BIG here so you don't "run out" again anytime soon.



Yes.



It will become more expensive as you keep needing more and more space. The tiers and their pricing is on Apple's website.



Separate app: example if Synology NAS. Photos app is integrated with local storage on Mac and iCloud.



Locally on your own network or at your Mac. Else, iCloud.

On iDevices, any Photos synched to the iDevice are accessible through the iDevice version of Photos- no iCloud required.

I like the idea of the Mac Pro as Nas/Server but size is very big. Any recommendations for a NAS?

 

[HobeSoundDarryl]

Synology with plenty of bays so you have plenty of room for future growth. Maybe 8 or 12 bay. Start with 3 or 4 big HDDs and add more to it over time as you need more storage. It can be a whole home Time Machine backup option too for all Macs at your home.

 

[ignatius345]

Had a Quick Look at this but a little confused what 3.1 means - what year are you suggesting as year of manufacture. Some of the MacPros are too big for the space I would want to use

I think he means a Mac Pro 3,1 (comma, not a period) -- which is this model:

Mac Pro "Eight Core" 2.8 (2008) Specs (Early 2008, MA970LL/A, MacPro3,1, A1186, 2180): EveryMac.com

Technical specifications for the Mac Pro "Eight Core" 2.8 (2008). Dates sold, processor type, memory info, hard drive details, price and more.

everymac.com

 

[bwfc0907]

Synology with plenty of bays so you have plenty of room for future growth.

So many choices though! Any suggestion as a starting point would be good

 

[ignatius345]

(Also this probably goes without saying but: when you start moving your images and videos out onto a NAS or whatever -- be absolutely sure you're setting up some kind of backup system or redundancy. Nothing you value should ever live on only one drive. )

 

[bwfc0907]

I think he means a Mac Pro 3,1 (comma, not a period) -- which is this model:

Mac Pro "Eight Core" 2.8 (2008) Specs (Early 2008, MA970LL/A, MacPro3,1, A1186, 2180): EveryMac.com

Technical specifications for the Mac Pro "Eight Core" 2.8 (2008). Dates sold, processor type, memory info, hard drive details, price and more.

everymac.com

My bad - just realised. They are very big so maybe the NAS or HDD maybe best bet.