Slow performance on very large library

[MattMRead]

I'm hoping to use Calibre to manage the metadata (JUST the metadata) for a very large number of books (on the order of a few million), but I find that as the number of entries increases, adding new entries gets slower and slower, eventually becoming so slow that it's unusable, well before reaching a million entries.

Note that most of the entries are empty. They have no formats associated with them.

Is Calibre appropriate for managing this amount of metadata, doing searches, meta-data updates, etc.?

[ownedbycats]

A couple of ideas:

Run Library > Library Maintenance > Check library. This'll vacuum your database and check for errors.

If you're using 32-bit Calibre, switch to 64-bit, assuming your system will support that. This'll let it use more memory.

If you use any composite columns ("column built from other column"), check them. Sometimes bad coding in them can slow things down. In that case, either look into improving the template or seeing whether it would work better as a non-composite.

Run a checkdsk (or whatever is similiar for your OS) on the drive holding the library. I had a bad drive causing Calibre slowness.

[BetterRed]

Originally Posted by MattMRead

I'm hoping to use Calibre to manage the metadata (JUST the metadata) for a very large number of books (on the order of a few million), but I find that as the number of entries increases, adding new entries gets slower and slower, eventually becoming so slow that it's unusable, well before reaching a million entries.

Note that most of the entries are empty. They have no formats associated with them.

Is Calibre appropriate for managing this amount of metadata, doing searches, meta-data updates, etc.?

Where are you storing the 'library'?

Even though you have no ebook-format files (EPUB, PDF etc), when you add books calibre will still be creating author and title folders.

Suggested reading ==>> Frequently Asked Questions, especially the Library Management and Miscellaneous sections.

BR

[theducks]

Another thing to remember is that Calibre has the entire booklist in RAM while running.

[spigot7]

You may need to split your Calibre library, eg authors A-F, G-M, N-Z to make editing more manageable.
If you create smaller virtual libraries for editing purposes you will find this faster.
You can use Calibre as a database for your metadata, then export it's data as a csv file to use with Python and pandas for fast searches and analysis.

[TRexReader]

Originally Posted by theducks

Another thing to remember is that Calibre has the entire booklist in RAM while running.

Wait, what?? I've been searching for months about why Calibre is killing my RAM, old MacBook Air 4GB RAM, it'll idle at 2.5GB the go red and start compressing and swapping like crazy if I actually do a process, and this is the first time I've heard this Everything else runs like a dream so I can't really justify upgrading over one program.

Is there any way to reduce this without splitting the library?

[ownedbycats]

If possible (unfamiliar with Apple architecture), add more RAM.

[JSWolf]

Originally Posted by TRexReader

Wait, what?? I've been searching for months about why Calibre is killing my RAM, old MacBook Air 4GB RAM, it'll idle at 2.5GB the go red and start compressing and swapping like crazy if I actually do a process, and this is the first time I've heard this Everything else runs like a dream so I can't really justify upgrading over one program.

Is there any way to reduce this without splitting the library?

The problem is not Calibre but your Macbook Air. 4GB on an old MacBook Air is a real slug. You need at least 16GB RAM. 4GB is not enough. My wife has a MacBook Air with 4GB ram and the performance is terrible. Late last year, we bought a refurbish MacBook Air with the M2 chip, 16GB RAM, and 512GB SSD. It runs very well.

So you really do need a new laptop that has enough storage and enough RAM.

[JSWolf]

Originally Posted by ownedbycats

If possible (unfamiliar with Apple architecture), add more RAM.

You can't. He has to buy a new laptop.

[Comfy.n]

Originally Posted by MattMRead

doing searches

For non-prefixed searches, I find this setting crucial, performance-wise:

Preferences -> Searching -> check "Limit the searched metadata"