jimfeet wrote:
Yes, that's an option I've considered. But as with any database, size is inversely proportional to speed - larger database equals slower performance. LR 5 is much better than earlier versions in this regard but when you reach 100,000 images you can feel it.
This is incorrect. I accept that you think the database is getting slower, but the database (and really all databases) are designed to work pretty much the same regardless of the number of records, except for perhaps searching through the entire catalog. We have seen in this forum people who are now editing larger RAW files than a few years ago, they see it is slower, and decide it is the size of the database, rather than the size of their photos.
What aspects of Lightroom are slow? If it's scrolling and displaying the previews and searching, then it might be the database. If its displaying images in the Develop module, it is NOT the database at all.
Have you taken steps to improve the performance of the database, such as Optimizing it regularly? have you tried these performance tips: FAQ: Experiencing Performance related problems in Lightroom?