# Self-Hosted Photo Library — Project Meeting Notes

**Date:** July 30, 2026  
**Time:** 10:00–10:45 a.m. ET  
**Location:** Video conference  
**Facilitator:** Maya Chen  
**Note taker:** Priya Nair

## Attendees

- Maya Chen — Product Owner
- Leo Martins — Infrastructure
- Priya Nair — Backend Engineering
- Sam Okafor — Security
- Elena Rossi — Design and User Research
- Jordan Lee — Support and Documentation

## Agenda

1. Confirm requirements and preferred platform
2. Review storage, backup, and remote-access options
3. Discuss migration from existing photo services
4. Agree on rollout phases and ownership

## Discussion Notes

- The initial library contains approximately 1.8 TB of photos and videos, with an estimated annual growth of 300–400 GB.
- The team compared Immich and PhotoPrism. Immich offers the preferred mobile backup experience and multi-user support, but upgrades must be tested carefully because the project is evolving quickly.
- The service will run on the existing home server using Docker Compose. Original files will remain on a dedicated storage volume; application data and the database will use separate volumes.
- Remote access should not require opening the application directly to the public internet. A VPN-based approach is acceptable for the pilot.
- Facial recognition and location metadata are useful but raise privacy concerns. These features should be optional per user where supported.
- Existing albums and metadata must be preserved during migration. A sample import is needed before moving the full library.
- Backups must include both original media and the database. RAID or mirrored storage alone is not considered a backup.
- The pilot will include three household members using iOS and Android devices.

## Decisions

- Use Immich for the pilot deployment.
- Deploy with Docker Compose on the existing Linux server.
- Store original media on the dedicated photo volume and keep the PostgreSQL database on SSD storage.
- Use Tailscale for remote access during the pilot; do not expose Immich directly through router port forwarding.
- Enable automatic mobile uploads, with deletion from phones remaining a manual user action.
- Keep facial recognition disabled by default and allow pilot users to opt in.
- Follow a 3-2-1 backup approach: primary storage, a local encrypted backup, and an encrypted off-site copy.
- Run a two-week pilot before beginning the full-library migration.
- Schedule updates monthly after reviewing release notes and validating backups.

## Action Items

- [ ] Leo: Prepare the Docker Compose host, storage mounts, and monitoring by August 4.
- [ ] Priya: Deploy Immich and document the configuration and rollback procedure by August 5.
- [ ] Sam: Configure Tailscale access, review authentication settings, and complete a basic threat assessment by August 6.
- [ ] Maya: Select a representative 50 GB sample containing photos, videos, albums, and metadata by August 3.
- [ ] Priya and Maya: Import the sample and verify timestamps, album membership, duplicates, and metadata by August 7.
- [ ] Leo: Configure nightly database backups and weekly media backups by August 7.
- [ ] Sam: Verify backup encryption and perform a test restore by August 10.
- [ ] Elena: Collect pilot feedback on upload reliability, search, sharing, and mobile usability during the two-week pilot.
- [ ] Jordan: Draft setup instructions for iOS, Android, and remote access by August 11.
- [ ] Maya: Schedule the pilot review and go/no-go decision for August 24.

## Open Questions

- Which off-site backup provider offers the best cost for approximately 2.5 TB of encrypted data?
- Should shared albums be accessible only through Tailscale, or should selected albums support expiring public links?
- How should duplicate files from multiple existing libraries be handled during the full migration?
- Is hardware acceleration available and reliable on the current server for video transcoding and machine-learning tasks?

## Next Meeting

**Pilot readiness review:** August 11, 2026, at 10:00 a.m. ET