Using a NAS for Centralized Storage and Editing Photos? Here’s Why and How

Using a NAS for editing has a lot of benefits but might not be as simple as it sounds. Here are the things you need to know and consider.

Having a NAS to manage and store your photos certainly has its benefits for workflow efficiency and accessibility of your files. Most photographers who use a network-attached storage use one to easily access files, especially when multiple users are involved in the task. For the longest time, a NAS system’s capabilities were limited to being a container for files for backup and playback. However, in recent years, faster and more capable NAS systems have been made available that can take the role of a working external drive for processing and editing media.

Along with the launch of a wide range of NAS servers, UGREEN released various options with NVMe M.2 solid state drive slots. While most of the variants still made use of the larger 3.5-inch HDDs, one variant offers four NVMe M.2 slots in a much smaller form—the NASync DXP480T Plus. They sent one to us to try and see how usable they actually are for a photographer’s editing workflow. This is what we learned.

The UGREEN NASync DXP480T Plus All-Flash SSD NAS

The UGREEN NASync DXP480T is a 7.05 × 5.59 × 2.05-inch device that houses a 12th Gen Intel Core i5 processor with 8 GB of RAM (expandable to 64 GB) and 4 slots of NVMe M.2 SSDs that can take up to 8 TB each, making a maximum storage capacity of 32 TB. On the back panel are two Thunderbolt 4 ports, a 10 GbE RJ45 LAN port, a USB 3.2 Type-A port, a full-sized HDMI port, and a 3.5 mm audio output port. The DXP480T has no direct SD or TF reader ports, unlike other NAS devices in the lineup.

What Is a NAS and Why Use One for Photography?

As the name suggests, a network-attached storage (NAS) system is an array of storage disks housed in a server connected to a specific network. Since the system is connected directly to a network instead of a single computer or mobile device, it makes the storage drives accessible to any device connected to the network with the right access or permissions. Because the storage is connected to the network, this can either be through Wi-Fi or a wired LAN connection, though the former is, of course, more limited in terms of transfer speeds. NAS systems also offer various RAID configurations for different kinds of storage fortification and backup, giving photographers more systematic ways of making sure they never lose their files from disk failure.

Another benefit of using a NAS is that, beyond the specific network that it operates in, if connected to the internet, it can also be made securely accessible remotely depending on the access configurations set for the storage pool. This means that an authorized device can either retrieve files for use from far away or upload files into the storage even when away from the network and the physical drives. Because of the development of much faster drives and much faster connections, a NAS can now also function as a remote working drive that handles the files and media being processed by a photographer.

The Difference Made By SSDs on a NAS

Typically, NAS systems made use of the standard 3.5-inch HDDs, and they are undoubtedly reliable for storage and long-term backups. Since NAS systems are typically kept running continuously, specialized HDDs such as the Seagate IronWolf and WD Red drives were made that can withstand continuous use with less probability of failure.

With the rise of solid state drives (SSDs), storage systems have gotten exponentially faster and more capable of real-time processing workflows without having to copy or transfer the files into the device’s internal drives. With the right combination of ports and cables, editing photos—and even videos—straight out of an external SSD is now a convenient norm. Given the availability of SSD-equipped NAS devices, with the right connections and cables, editing straight out of a NAS is also an option.

Setting Up a NAS for Editing

To set up an all-flash NAS for editing, there are various components that will heavily affect the functionality and speed of the drives in performing tasks in real time. The first factor would be the drives that would be installed onto the bays of the NAS. Since M.2 SSDs with a standard speed of over 1,000 MB/s are being used, any good and functional option can be used for photo editing; however, video workflows generally require faster drives as well.

When installed to the NAS, this will now be connected to your network’s router. It’s important to know the capabilities of the router that you use and the speed at which it transmits data. Standard routers usually have gigabit ports (1 Gbps), while more advanced options offer 2.5 GbE and 10 GbE, which will better maximize the capabilities of the drives and the entire system. It’s also important to pay attention to all the LAN cables being used to connect the NAS to the router and the router to your computer. The last piece of the puzzle would be the LAN port on your device that completes the system. Given all of these components, it is important to know that the system can only be as fast as the slowest of its components.

Personally, I installed two (for now) Lexar NM620 NVMe M.2 SSDs on the first two slots of the DXP480T. I admittedly wanted to install two 4 TB drives but could not find any that are locally available in my country. The NAS is connected to my router using the supplied CAT 7 LAN cable, which is then connected to a UGREEN Revodok Max with a 2.5 GbE port that connects via Thunderbolt 4 to my computer. Realistically, there is already a bottleneck in terms of speed in this system, which is the 2.5 GbE port. However, considering that the system will be used for editing still images, it is still virtually as fast as it needs to be. A perfect system would, of course, make use of 10 GbE ports on the computer and the router, along with the right cables to support that speed.

Editing From the NAS

As a personal choice, I make use of and maximize the catalog system of Adobe Lightroom Classic. Since the software does not support running the catalogs from a network device, the catalog and its accompanying files must be kept on the computer’s internal drive or on an external SSD connected separately to the computer (which kind of defeats the purpose). When using this system, the raw files and possibly the output can be kept and stored on the NAS’s drives, but the catalogs are left elsewhere. This means that while the files are accessible for multiple users/devices, the catalogs must be manually copied (and updated) to be in the same workflow. Alternatively, each device can have a different catalog that utilizes the files on the NAS, which limits cross-compatibility.

A more straightforward and feasible use would be through a linear workflow that individually works on the images instead of collectively in a catalog. The most common would, of course, be by individually editing the images on Adobe Camera Raw and Adobe Photoshop and saving the output onto the chosen destination's storage. This technically is as simple as opening the file (located on the drive on the NAS) in Photoshop and editing as you normally would.

While it is absolutely possible and undoubtedly convenient to use a NAS not just for storage but for editing, there are a lot of factors that come into play. For one, it's important to pay attention to every component of the system, as any bottlenecks will limit the functionality of the entire set. Using a NAS for editing photos only (not videos) is not as demanding in terms of speed and can be achieved even without a 10 GbE system; however, it is, of course, a lot better (but also more expensive) if maximized. Lastly, using an all-flash NAS as a working/editing drive requires a well-thought-out system, especially when the intention is to make the storage available to all devices in the network. Picking out single images and working on them individually is more practical than having a shared catalog system that has to be manually shared between involved users. Overall, this way of storing and editing files is certainly not for everyone, but for a photographer who shares files with multiple team members or uses multiple devices, a well-planned system can definitely offer a lot of convenience.