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You are here: MacNN Forums > Software - Troubleshooting and Discussion > Applications > How to store photos on Mac, edit on iPad?

How to store photos on Mac, edit on iPad? (Page 2)
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ShortcutToMoncton  (op)
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Aug 30, 2013, 08:35 AM
 
Hah. Oh, I'll get it, but a few months down the road, alright? Give me some time to get this set up first, geez
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ShortcutToMoncton  (op)
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Sep 6, 2013, 02:16 PM
 
Bah - after looking into RAID 5 or 6 I realized I'm going to need more hard drives to properly implement. I think RAID 6 is just too expensive - I'll have to add another HD and go with RAID 5 and hope I don't lose two hard drives at once.
( Last edited by ShortcutToMoncton; Sep 6, 2013 at 02:35 PM. )
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subego
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Sep 8, 2013, 09:03 PM
 
You'll be as close to safe as you can be if you use Reds or better.

Of course, if you get CrashPlan, then you'll be safe safe.
     
subego
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Sep 9, 2013, 05:56 AM
 
P.S. I forget which RAIDs you were looking at, but at this point in time Synology has no competition. Don't bother looking anywhere else.

I personally have a five bay with the five bay expansion backing up to another 5+5. This is all automatically handled by the Synology software. They've worked almost flawlessly. Lightroom used to trash the automatic backup, but that got fixed with a update a long time ago.
     
ShortcutToMoncton  (op)
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Sep 9, 2013, 08:46 AM
 
Hah. To be honest people really seem to really recommend either one of Synology or QNAP. There doesn't seem to be much of a difference between their feature sets; QNAP recently released a significant software update that reviewers say put them squarely with Synology in the easy-to-use bracket.

I went with a 4-bay QNAP TS-469L which was on fire sale. It's got a dual-core Atom and a bunch of ports I will likely never use. For $500 I couldn't see a better option anywhere; the comparable Synology models were significantly more expensive.

With four 3Tb Reds I'll have 9Tb of RAID 5 storage - I currently only have 3.5Tb, so it will likely be a couple years or so before I have to look at a storage upgrade - and by then I could likely start replacing with 5Tb Reds!

I'll be looking into CrashPlan.
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shifuimam
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Sep 9, 2013, 01:31 PM
 
It might be too late for this, but I just read up on this Kickstarter project, and it looks pretty rad:

Lima: the brain of your devices by The CGC team - Kickstarter

It's basically cloud storage from your home, so there aren't privacy concerns to worry about.
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ShortcutToMoncton  (op)
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Sep 10, 2013, 06:52 AM
 
That looks good - I would imagine it will be a while before it's ready for sale, though. On a side node, both the File Transporter Q mentioned (also a Kickstarter project) and the latest NAS softwares allow for "personal cloud" access - they are just not quite as seamless as this device purports to be, but again it is early in its development.

Upon initial review this basically looks like a simplified NAS that's only accesible via an external device (i.e. from cloud access).

NAS software seems to be increasingly heading in this direction, and I do not see why it would not continue to do so while still providing powerful server features and storage options.
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ShortcutToMoncton  (op)
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Sep 10, 2013, 08:17 AM
 
Originally Posted by ShortcutToMoncton View Post
On a side node, both the File Transporter Q mentioned
Hah! 007 on the brain!
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shifuimam
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Sep 10, 2013, 04:30 PM
 
I set up a NAS for an all-Mac friend of mine awhile back. I think he still uses it - custom-built machine running FreeNAS with software RAID 5.

All my files are backed up to a Windows Server 2008 machine with a software RAID 5. The stuff I'm particularly concerned about is further backed up elsewhere (SkyDrive, etc.). Then again, I don't need something with iOS support since Android has the ability to browse the entire file system and most file apps have SMB support.
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ShortcutToMoncton  (op)
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Sep 11, 2013, 08:12 AM
 
Sorry, what do you mean browse the file system? Does Android offer some advantage over iOS in accessing a NAS?

I briefly looked at FreeNAS but I really don't have time for that much fooling around.
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shifuimam
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Sep 11, 2013, 12:57 PM
 
Any android Application can access any part of the userspace storage.

In iOS - at least as far as I understand; I haven't used iOS regularly since 3.1 or so - each application has sandboxed storage. If you want to get something from your Dropbox, you have to open up the Dropbox app and access your files through that interface. If you want to download something in Safari, you have to open up Safari to view your downloads and access those files through that interface. Applications can't access each others' storage. The fine details of how this is supposed to work are detailed in Apple's dev documentation, here.

Android, on the other hand, behaves more like a regular personal computer. If you have Dropbox installed, any other application can open files in your Dropbox by simply navigating to /Dropbox/$filename (or wherever your Dropbox syncs your files locally). User-accessible storage is mounted RW by the OS, much like how a thumb drive is mounted in OS X. For devices that have internal user storage as well as external storage (MicroSD, USB host, etc.), each volume is mounted RW. The standard naming convention is something like /sdcard for the internal user-accessible storage and /ext_sdcard for MicroSD storage.

I never have to plug my phone into my computer to do anything. Most file managers (free and paid) have built-in support for remote file access (SMB, WebDAV, SFTP/FTP, as well as cloud storage like Dropbox, box.net, Skydrive, and Google Drive). There's no need for syncing because an Android device is just another client operating system like Windows or OS X. Apps like Mount Manager let you mount network shares directly to mount points in the OS, so you can access them from any app just like a local folder.

So, yeah - there are serious advantages when accessing a NAS or any other remote filesystem on your network. You don't need a special app through which you access your files. You just mount and go.

This line from Apple's docs pretty much sums it up:

The iOS file system is geared toward apps running on their own.
The Android file system is geared toward allowing apps to share data. It provides significant flexibility over iOS's sandboxed model while still maintaining security - the system itself is protected. Even as root you have to remount the system partition as RW if you want to make any changes to it, and the Superuser app tells you whenever an app is requesting root access, so apps can't do anything without you knowing about it.
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Sep 11, 2013, 01:25 PM
 
Shif is right on the setup, but - I think - wrong on what it means in the case above. All applications have their own storage that no other app can reach, but any app can send a file to another app. I'm not sure if it always was like that, but it is the case today. It does not appear to use twice the storage when you do that - probably it makes a hard link in the storage space for the new app.

This means that any application that can access a NAS can send a file to any application on the iOS device. All you need is a single app that can access the NAS and you're done.
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ShortcutToMoncton  (op)
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Sep 11, 2013, 02:45 PM
 
Hmmmm. Perhaps I'm somewhat confused, but to my knowledge NAS companies like Synology and QNAP have developed robust-ish apps for both iOS and Android to allow remote access to their products. I guess I don't see a) why they would bother developing for Android if it was so easy to access directly, and b) in any event, why Android would be any benefit if access is from a dedicated app on both platforms.
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shifuimam
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Sep 11, 2013, 03:07 PM
 
Well, such apps might provide additional features to control a NAS, particularly if it's a commercial product.

Also, auto-mounting a CIFS share at boot does require root access. On the other hand, for a normal file share, you don't need a special app - I just use a file browser to access my server.

There's also the fact that if a company makes an iOS app, users are going to expect the same app available on Android, even if the same functionality already exists elsewhere or through third-party apps. It also makes tech support easier when you're talking about commercial end-user products.
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ShortcutToMoncton  (op)
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Sep 12, 2013, 09:30 AM
 
Ahh okay, thanks.
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ShortcutToMoncton  (op)
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Sep 26, 2013, 09:26 AM
 
Is there any way to set up a computer-based cloud directly from Mac OS X?

Sub was bang on with the QNAP - had problems and I returned it (in fairness I think it was defective, but still). But instead of going with a Synology, it would really be easier and cheaper to use a direct-attached storage RAID solution. I just need cloud access to the pictures from an iOS device.
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ShortcutToMoncton  (op)
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Oct 5, 2013, 09:12 AM
 
Hah I'm going to guess I get no responses....but has anyone fooled around with PogoPlug PC or OwnCloud or Tonido or Polkast or whatever? Essentially using one's Mac as a server with web-based iOS internet access?
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subego
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Oct 13, 2013, 04:43 AM
 
I knew I should be swinging back here more often.

I've never used a pogoplug, but I hear it's not bad.
     
subego
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Oct 13, 2013, 07:23 AM
 
Also, can you give me a quick refresher on your goal with the cloud stuff?

Edit: NM. I think I've got it. Ruminating.
     
subego
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Oct 13, 2013, 07:44 AM
 
Check this out:

Free TeamViewer app Download for iPhone, iPod touch, iPad, Android and Windows 8/Windows RT/Windows Phone 8

AFAICT, it's free for non-commercial use. It may not work as needed, but it won't cost anything to find out.
     
ShortcutToMoncton  (op)
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Oct 16, 2013, 08:04 AM
 
Hah - thanks bud. Initially looks like that is a kind of VPN - i.e. you just get a standard "OS X" computer screen that you painfully navigate by hand; I currently have iTeleport, although it's disappointingly slow - but I'll check it out.

Some of those other programs like Polkast or Pogoplug seem to take the OS X file structure for folders with approved access, and reformated them as a simple iOS interface. I just downloaded Polkast this weekend and have not been able to play around with it yet, but that sort of seems like what I'm looking for.

One potential problem I've thought about is saving "changes" to a RAW file. For example, let's say I use Lightroom/Photosmith to sort my pictures (which has been useful, btw, many thanks again). Once I've narrowed it down to what I'm keeping, I can then use [Polkast etc.] to access the Lightroom library folder where the pictures are stored, and open with, say, Photogene for edits on the iPad.

However if I use Photogene to save back to the RAW file...would I need to always open in Photogene in order to see my edits? I suspect yes, and Lightroom won't "see" edits. But I'll find out shortly, I suppose.

Anyways, I just bought a direct-attached enclosure that will have 6 Tb for extra storage, and 6 Tb for Time Machine backups. I also got a small 4Tb external drive on which I've done a Time Machine backup and will keep in my office drawer. It won't be enough to include all my movies going forward, but as long as I can do periodic backups for our pictures, that will function as a backup to the backup for now.

No Crashplan for me, yet.
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ShortcutToMoncton  (op)
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Aug 1, 2014, 12:10 PM
 
Soooooooo.....zombie thread......but I've noticed that Lightroom for iPad is finally out, and thus RAW files can be stored on one's computer via Lightroom, and then edited on the Lightroom app - although sounds like it's only iPhoto-level editing capabilities for now.

But I went to check it out, and sounds like I will also need to be signed up to Adobe's Cloud, which is $10 a month. So this program will cost me the price of Lightroom 5, plus $120 a year indefinitely? Sub, are you using it?
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