# Meeting Notes: Self-Hosted Photo Library

Date: 2026-07-10
Time: 10:00 AM - 10:45 AM
Location: Video call

## Attendees

- Maya Chen, Engineering
- Luis Romero, Infrastructure
- Priya Shah, Design
- Evan Brooks, Product
- Nora Patel, Support

## Agenda

1. Review goals for a self-hosted photo library
2. Compare candidate platforms
3. Discuss storage, backup, and access requirements
4. Define migration approach
5. Assign next steps

## Discussion

The team agreed that the primary goal is to provide a private, searchable photo library for family and project photos without relying on a third-party cloud service. Important features include automatic mobile uploads, face/object search, album sharing, duplicate detection, and reliable backups.

Immich was discussed as the strongest candidate because it has active development, mobile apps, timeline browsing, and machine-learning-based search. PhotoPrism was also considered, but the group felt its mobile upload workflow would require more manual setup.

Luis outlined a proposed deployment using Docker Compose on the existing home server, with photo originals stored on the NAS volume and application metadata stored on SSD-backed storage. Backups would include nightly database dumps, weekly full photo library snapshots, and offsite encrypted backups.

Priya noted that shared albums should be simple enough for non-technical family members to use. Evan suggested starting with read-only shared links for selected albums before exposing broader account-based access.

Nora raised support concerns around account recovery, mobile upload failures, and storage alerts. The team agreed that basic documentation should be created before inviting additional users.

## Decisions

- Use Immich as the initial self-hosted photo library platform.
- Deploy with Docker Compose on the existing home server.
- Store original photos on the NAS-backed media volume.
- Store database and application state on SSD-backed storage.
- Enable automatic mobile uploads for the initial test users.
- Start with private access over VPN only.
- Do not expose the service publicly until backup, monitoring, and update procedures are documented.
- Use encrypted offsite backup for both photo originals and database exports.

## Action Items

- Luis: Create the initial Docker Compose configuration for Immich by 2026-07-12.
- Luis: Configure NAS storage mounts and verify filesystem permissions by 2026-07-12.
- Maya: Set up database backup scripts and test restore from backup by 2026-07-14.
- Maya: Add basic health checks and disk usage alerts by 2026-07-15.
- Priya: Review the Immich web and mobile experience for shared albums by 2026-07-16.
- Evan: Define the first migration batch and acceptance criteria by 2026-07-13.
- Nora: Draft a short user guide for mobile uploads, album sharing, and common issues by 2026-07-17.
- Team: Review pilot results after one week of use and decide whether to invite additional users.