IPhoto 5 - need to free up space on internal HD

Background: eMac user running Tiger (10.4.11) and iPhoto 5. Two primary accounts in the system. We are not sharing the iPhoto Library; one account's library is much larger than the other. Photo files are about 11GB on the system.
This past week I have been receiving messages that I am running out of space on my internal HD (40GB). In order to buy time until I can afford a new computer (mine is 4-1/2 years old), I've determined that I should remove some pictures from the internal HD to an external HD. Some photos are in iPhoto; some have been exported and saved to folders. Two reasons for these additional photos: First, saving pictures that have been e-mailed to us. Second, exported from iPhoto, so that I can upload them to Snapfish; I don't know if it is possible to upload directly out of the iPhoto Library
However, in reading a few posts, I see that some people are maintaining their iPhoto Library on an external HD. Various questions:
1. Does running the iPhoto Library on an external HD work? Please provide pros and cons.
2. If I go this route and/or save all photos to an external, realistically, what size external drive should I look to purchase?
3. Earlier research (when I was developing a back-up system - Retrospect) indicates that external HD don't last forever. Can anyone provide longevity of their's?
4. If I maintain the iPhoto Library on an external, I would then need to incorporate it into the backup schedule; right?
Hopefully, I've asked the right questions. If anyone sees additional issues that I should address, please let me know.

Mary:
1 - yes, you can run a library from an external HD. The only thing to be wary of is dismounting the drive while you're using iPhoto. If there's an interruption while iPhoto is writing to its database file it can corrupt the file. That can be easily recovered from by making frequent backups of the Library6.iPhoto database file.
2 - IMO basically as large as you can afford. You'll always be able to use the drive when you get a new computer. If it's a good size you can use it for a Time Machine backup drive. I have a 750 GB OWC Mercury Elite Pro Aluminum drive for my Time Machine.
3 - as far a longevity if you backup on a weekly basis the drive doesn't have to be on all the time, just when you want to do a backup. I would clone your boot drive to the external with SuperDuper so you have a bootable drive in case the internal has problems and then use a backup program like Retrospect or Synk Standard to make *weekly incremental* (copying only those new or changed files) backups of your User/home folder.
4 - yes, you would need to figure out how to backup the library to another separate media.
A lot will depend on budget. Two external HDs, one about 120 GB for a working external and one big enough to backup both your boot and external on a set schedule would do the job . Again, as big as the budget will allow now as in the future when you get a new computer it's drive will be larger and you'll need a size big enough to back that up.
Moving your library, 11 GB, to an external would provide you with enough free space to give you better performance of both your system and applications.
TIP: For insurance against the iPhoto database corruption that many users have experienced I recommend making a backup copy of the Library6.iPhoto (iPhoto.Library for iPhoto 5 and earlier) database file and keep it current. If problems crop up where iPhoto suddenly can't see any photos or thinks there are no photos in the library, replacing the working Library6.iPhoto file with the backup will often get the library back. By keeping it current I mean backup after each import and/or any serious editing or work on books, slideshows, calendars, cards, etc. That insures that if a problem pops up and you do need to replace the database file, you'll retain all those efforts. It doesn't take long to make the backup and it's good insurance.
I've created an Automator workflow application (requires Tiger or later), iPhoto dB File Backup, that will copy the selected Library6.iPhoto file from your iPhoto Library folder to the Pictures folder, replacing any previous version of it. It's compatible with iPhoto 6 and 7 libraries and Tiger and Leopard. iPhoto does not have to be closed to run the application, just idle. You can download it at Toad's Cellar. Be sure to read the Read Me pdf file.
Note: There now an Automator backup application for iPhoto 5 that will work with Tiger or Leopard.

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see here:
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A Professional Example
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http://ipadacademy.com/2011/09/another-way-to-quickly-delete-photos-from-your-ip ad-mac-only
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dj_paige wrote:
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tt2

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http://tinyurl.com/85w6xwn
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IPhoto 5 - need to free up space on internal HD

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