I was discussing this very point with a colleague, and so found this topic again. Thought I would post my comments here rather than start a new topic.
I often use coppermine as an intranet solution due to its flexibility and good online support. In an intranet setting bandwidth requirements because of file size is not really a problem. A common requirement is to use the browsing/categorising/search facilities of coppermine, but still to have access to a raw file image if needed for photo-shopping purposes, also to avoid split storage. One of the main advantages of coppermine is that all the image files stay together in the same directory rather than being split among directories according to size.
Personally I always pre-process my images, create the "normal" and "thumbnail" sizes upload them into the appropriate sub-directory and use the import add-in which is then very quick as it finds the files already there. ie. my laptop does all the work away from the server.
To proove the point about processing raw files with ImageMagick I created a little bash script (most servers run a linux derivative) to show the time/ressource differences
#!/bin/bash
# Quick and dirty timing test using image magick with Nikon Raw, and jpg files
# refer http://forum.coppermine-gallery.net/index.php/topic,7033.0.html
#
# Note my camera (Nikon D700) gives me a large jpg and a raw file
#
#
# writen 20120717 roger.morgan@htl-steyr.ac.at
#
# SuSE 12.1, ImageMagick 6.7.2-7 2011-10-19 Q16
#
echo -e "\n\n SuSE Version\n"
cat /etc/SuSE-release
echo -e "\n\n ImageMagick Version\n"
convert -version
#
PICTURE=QSD_8808
#
echo -e "\n## Picure : ${PICTURE} ##\n\n"
ls -al ${PICTURE}.*
echo -e "\n## 1) Timings for \'normal\' pictures\n"
echo -e "\n## 1.1) JPG\n"
/usr/bin/time -f "\n%E elapsed,\n%U user,\n%S system,\n%M memory\n%x status" convert ${PICTURE}.JPG -quality 80 -resize 400x400 normal_${PICTURE}_JPG.jpg
echo -e "\n## 1.2) NEF\n"
/usr/bin/time -f "\n%E elapsed,\n%U user,\n%S system,\n%M memory\n%x status" convert ${PICTURE}.NEF -quality 80 -resize 400x400 normal_${PICTURE}_NEF.jpg
echo -e "\n\n jhead infos\n"
jhead normal_*
echo -e "\n## 2) Timings for \'thumbnail\' pictures\n"
echo -e "\n## 2.1) JPG\n"
/usr/bin/time -f "\n%E elapsed,\n%U user,\n%S system,\n%M memory\n%x status" convert ${PICTURE}.JPG -quality 80 -resize 150x150 thumb_${PICTURE}_JPG.jpg
echo -e "\n## 2.2) NEF\n"
/usr/bin/time -f "\n%E elapsed,\n%U user,\n%S system,\n%M memory\n%x status" convert ${PICTURE}.NEF -quality 80 -resize 150x150 thumb_${PICTURE}_NEF.jpg
echo -e "\n\n jhead infos\n"
jhead thumb_*
echo -e "\n\n -----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------\n"
ls -al *${PICTURE}*.*
Here are the results
wwwrun@bilder:/srv/www/htdocs/cpg_test_timing> ./doit.sh
SuSE Version
openSUSE 12.1 (i586)
VERSION = 12.1
CODENAME = Asparagus
ImageMagick Version
Version: ImageMagick 6.7.2-7 2011-10-19 Q16 http://www.imagemagick.org
Copyright: Copyright (C) 1999-2011 ImageMagick Studio LLC
Features: OpenMP
## Picure : QSD_8808 ##
-rw-r--r-- 1 wwwrun www 5117022 Jun 17 18:28 QSD_8808.JPG
-rwxr--r-- 1 wwwrun www 14378897 Jun 17 18:28 QSD_8808.NEF
## 1) Timings for \'normal\' pictures
## 1.1) JPG
0:00.75 elapsed,
1.10 user,
0.04 system,
428688 memory
0 status
## 1.2) NEF
0:20.20 elapsed,
23.44 user,
0.28 system,
604640 memory
0 status
jhead infos
File name : normal_QSD_8808_JPG.jpg
File size : 63267 bytes
File date : 2012:07:17 17:05:30
Camera make : NIKON CORPORATION
Camera model : NIKON D700
Date/Time : 2012:06:17 18:28:39
Resolution : 266 x 400
Flash used : No
Focal length : 24.0mm (35mm equivalent: 24mm)
Exposure time: 0.0031 s (1/320)
Aperture : f/9.0
ISO equiv. : 200
Whitebalance : Auto
Metering Mode: matrix
Exposure : program (auto)
GPS Latitude : ? ?
GPS Longitude: ? ?
File name : normal_QSD_8808_NEF.jpg
File size : 19666 bytes
File date : 2012:07:17 17:05:50
Camera make : NIKON CORPORATION
Camera model : NIKON D700
Date/Time : 2012:06:17 18:28:39
Resolution : 266 x 400
Flash used : No
Focal length : 24.0mm (35mm equivalent: 24mm)
Exposure time: 0.0031 s (1/320)
Aperture : f/9.0
ISO equiv. : 200
Whitebalance : Auto
Metering Mode: matrix
Exposure : program (auto)
GPS Latitude : ? ?
GPS Longitude: ? ?
## 2) Timings for \'thumbnail\' pictures
## 2.1) JPG
0:00.73 elapsed,
1.06 user,
0.04 system,
403648 memory
0 status
## 2.2) NEF
0:20.19 elapsed,
23.42 user,
0.25 system,
604592 memory
0 status
jhead infos
File name : thumb_QSD_8808_JPG.jpg
File size : 48283 bytes
File date : 2012:07:17 17:05:51
Camera make : NIKON CORPORATION
Camera model : NIKON D700
Date/Time : 2012:06:17 18:28:39
Resolution : 100 x 150
Flash used : No
Focal length : 24.0mm (35mm equivalent: 24mm)
Exposure time: 0.0031 s (1/320)
Aperture : f/9.0
ISO equiv. : 200
Whitebalance : Auto
Metering Mode: matrix
Exposure : program (auto)
GPS Latitude : ? ?
GPS Longitude: ? ?
File name : thumb_QSD_8808_NEF.jpg
File size : 9473 bytes
File date : 2012:07:17 17:06:11
Camera make : NIKON CORPORATION
Camera model : NIKON D700
Date/Time : 2012:06:17 18:28:39
Resolution : 100 x 150
Flash used : No
Focal length : 24.0mm (35mm equivalent: 24mm)
Exposure time: 0.0031 s (1/320)
Aperture : f/9.0
ISO equiv. : 200
Whitebalance : Auto
Metering Mode: matrix
Exposure : program (auto)
GPS Latitude : ? ?
GPS Longitude: ? ?
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------
------------
-rw-r--r-- 1 wwwrun www 5117022 Jun 17 18:28 QSD_8808.JPG
-rwxr--r-- 1 wwwrun www 14378897 Jun 17 18:28 QSD_8808.NEF
-rw-r--r-- 1 wwwrun www 63267 Jul 17 17:05 normal_QSD_8808_JPG.jpg
-rw-r--r-- 1 wwwrun www 19666 Jul 17 17:05 normal_QSD_8808_NEF.jpg
-rw-r--r-- 1 wwwrun www 48283 Jul 17 17:05 thumb_QSD_8808_JPG.jpg
-rw-r--r-- 1 wwwrun www 9473 Jul 17 17:06 thumb_QSD_8808_NEF.jpg
wwwrun@bilder:/srv/www/htdocs/cpg_test_timing>
I have deliberately not added other possible options to the ImageMagick convert program. In my case the resized images from the raw format are not as vivid as the camera produced jpg's
The results show quite clearly the extra time/ressources needed to process the Nikon raw format files. Personally as I always take the JPG in the camera, I do not need to process the raw formats for coppermine, but just copy the raw files into the same subdirectory so I can find them again when needed.
Hope this is of interest to you