We have been using SuperContainer for nigh on 10 years for storing several thousand product images. Every so often we need to access the particular image via the Finder from another Mac on our 1 GB/s local network, usually to correct a file name. The files are stored in a directory on the FMS SSD under this path:
/Users/Shared/SuperContainer/Files/Grandmothers Garden/Products/

The FMS is running on a 2012 4-core MacMini with macOS 10.14.6, 16 GB of RAM and 256 GB of SSD.  FMS version is 18.0.2.
The SuperContainer directory has these stats:  6.9 GB with 3.3 GB in the Products folder and another 3.4 GB in a Thumbnails folder. Are both of these folders needed, as there appear to be subfolders under each Thumbnails parent folder with what appear to be different resolutions of each product?

Over the next month I plan to install a 2018 6-Core MacMini with 16 GB of RAM and 256 GB SSD.

Should I have the SuperContainer Directory on a Separate SSD such as the OWC Envoy Pro EX Thunderbolt 3 with its fast read access to improve Finder access to individual image folders, or will we still be restricted by the 1 GB/s ethernet cables, all connected to a single managed switch?

 

20 hours ago, JW_NZ said:

Are both of these folders needed, as there appear to be subfolders under each Thumbnails parent folder with what appear to be different resolutions of each product?

Yes as this is the folder where the generated thumbnails are stored, per resolution. You can have multiple resolutions in the case you are specifying height and width in the URL and/or SuperContainer will automatically create a new resolution based on the size of the web viewer or browser you are using to access the file.  When you use the /Files URL these are the images that are actually served. Deleting this folder will cause SuperContainer to need to re-create the thumbnail once this files are accessed again in a browser. If you want it to not create thumbnails and rather serve the raw file, use the /RawFile URL

 

20 hours ago, JW_NZ said:

Should I have the SuperContainer Directory on a Separate SSD such as the OWC Envoy Pro EX Thunderbolt 3 with its fast read access to improve Finder access to individual image folders, or will we still be restricted by the 1 GB/s ethernet cables, all connected to a single managed switch?

Having the files on the SSD will definitely improve read speed but then it sounds like the "bottleneck" will be the network instead of the hardware.