AFPS external hdd for video storage

Hi there,

APFS can handle large files, but there are some pros and cons when using it for video storage on an external HDD. APFS is optimized for SSDs and can be less efficient on traditional hard drives, particularly with large, sequential files like videos. Here’s a breakdown to help decide:

1. APFS Performance: APFS is optimized for SSDs, so it might not perform as well on HDDs, especially for managing large video files. Some users report slower write speeds on HDDs with APFS, which can affect your backup process.
2. Alternative Format - ExFAT or Mac OS Extended (Journaled): For large files on an HDD, Mac OS Extended (Journaled) is generally more efficient. It’s been the traditional format for macOS and offers stable performance on HDDs. ExFAT can also be a good alternative if you need compatibility with both Mac and Windows systems.
3. Backup and File Management: If you’re mainly backing up video files rather than editing them directly from the HDD, any speed differences may be less noticeable. For faster access or editing, an SSD would be ideal, as you’re already doing.

Reformatting to Mac OS Extended could improve performance for your needs, but if you’re already set up with APFS and it’s working smoothly, you may not see a huge benefit in changing.

Hope this helps!

Thanks,

R.L.

I'd recommend MacOS Extended, Journaled, case insensitive (GUID) for old spinning HDD drives.

APFS works, but it might get slow especially if used as a boot system drive, maybe less if used as a data drive. APFS has some nice features but I'd still not use it for HDD drives unless really necessary.

Apple's apps like Photos and Final Cut Pro libraries must be stored on APFS or MacOS Extended drives. Non-Mac formats (exFAT, NTFS etc) are not supported and might corrupt the library.

I agree with the other two.

I am a bit dubious about using a 4 TB HDD for backup as it means you have an awful lot of "eggs" in that "basket".

For general use I stick to 1 TB and for backup I use a maximum of 2 TB on the principle that 2 x 2 TB drives are safer than one 4 TB.

I use three 3 TB bare Seagate HDDs as image and movie backup disks (MacOS Extended). One HDD is the master, and I clone it with Carbon Copy Cloner to the others so many updates are quite fast. Those files are also in a Photos library on another SSD (and yet another Photos library is on my daughter's SSD off-site).

Best yet is to use two 2 TB HDDs and set them up as RAID 1 so they’re mirrored.