[heisetax]

I tried this several years ago with my 1TB Apple wireless base station. But I missed several things so things did not work as yours does. This should show me the things that I missed. I'm now ready to try again.

With this great article maybe I won't dislike iTunes so much.

Thanks,

[BoxOfSnoo]

Chris Breen, on 08 November 2011 - 07:54 AM, said:

bastion, on 08 November 2011 - 05:26 AM, said:

What you really need is a tool that will compare the local library database to the media collection, and report and resolve discrepancies. Sharing iTunes library files among users weakens one of iTunes' most powerful consumption features: Smart playlists based on personal factors like ratings, last-play-time and the like.

I'd love a tool like that. What do you recommend?

You should try SuperSync. It has its weaknesses but I think it's just the ticket for this application.

[idrivered]

I have a relatively similar setup and we love to use iTunes DJ. However, my biggest issue is when I have iTunes DJ setup for a 'house party' and guests logon to vote and request songs, they can't queue their own personal iTunes file as the next track on the playlist. Is there a way to have guests queue their personal library on the itunes DJ?

[Diesel50]

I just wish apple would allow you to connect the apple tv2 to the nas directly and give you the option to recognise a legitemate iTunes library off the nas.

[consumer_x]

It is a real shame that Apple does not extend iTunes Sharing to iDevices. When my sister comes into town, she is able to open up iTunes on her laptop and play anything she wants from my iTunes library. On the other hand, she cannot see my shared library with her iDevice. That is, unless I install some 3rd party server software on my Mac to share the library, for which she has to buy a matching 3rd party iOS app, or buy a file browser (!) app with less than ideal navigation and lacking a reasonable media player GUI. blah
I would love to use a NAS running iTunes server, but without native iOS support it would be 'useless' for me.
Home Sharing works fine for a small family with the swapping iTunes Account authorizations about, but is not really feasible with house guests in general.
#firstworldproblem

[gsp123]

The only reason I haven't done this yet is because I can't access any files from my laptop when I'm away from home. If Apple really is serious about making the PC 'just another device', they'll make it possible to sync only the media you want from your library to your machine as if it were just another iPod. They probably want iCloud to be the central repository for your library, but I'd prefer to have it on a local NAS. We could call it iFog.

[alderete]

Wow, that's both a lot of work, and a lot of limitations. It's cool to see what's possible, but I can't see myself taking this on -- even though I already have a huge NAS on our network.

I hope the real reason you wrote this article is to shame Apple into coming up with a solution to the family sharing problem. They do a great job building isolated solutions for individuals, but as this article highlights, they don't do very well for groups as small as husband and wife.

[Chris Breen]

alderete, on 09 November 2011 - 08:48 AM, said:

Wow, that's both a lot of work, and a lot of limitations. It's cool to see what's possible, but I can't see myself taking this on -- even though I already have a huge NAS on our network.

I hope the real reason you wrote this article is to shame Apple into coming up with a solution to the family sharing problem. They do a great job building isolated solutions for individuals, but as this article highlights, they don't do very well for groups as small as husband and wife.

Me? Shame Apple? Never.

Although it seems like a lot of work, it really is something you can manage in a day (depending on how long it takes to cull and copy your media). Since I've implemented the NAS in this way, I've found it easier to play my media around the house. In particular I've found Sonos more responsive and it's nice to be able to switch my Mac Pro off at night and still access music and video.

One thing I didn't mention that's turned out to be very useful is putting other kinds of media on the NAS -- comics and ebooks, in particular -- and then pulling them to my iPad using FileBrowser.

[flybynight]

I have a similar setup, but I use an unRaid server. The disadvantage is that there is no iTunes server built-in, so I have to leave my iMac on for my AppleTV to see everything. But, it was fun to build and easy to add on on to down the road.

[LukeBrunning]

After upgrading to Lion and iOS 5 I had been having a little trouble managing my media around the house. My son is Autistic and having immediate and easy access to whatever his latest TV/Movie obsession of the moment is has become vital to the harmony of the house! I managed to do all this in just under an hour today and its already working fantastically. Having lost Front Row in Lion I was thinking I would have to get an Apple TV, but the MacMini under the TV now works brilliantly just using iTunes and my or the wife's iPhones as remotes using the official app. We can also stream to the iPhones for access around the house. We I purchase an iPad for Christmas this will slot into this setup nicely.

[jcomx7]

This appears to be an excellent solution to my needs. Before buying this NAS I downlowded the installation instructions. It states "Use the LAN cable to connect the server to your switch/router/hub." The router provided by my cable company only has one (1) ETHERNET port, into which I plug my Time Capsule. How do I work around this? Do I instead have to plug the NAS into one of the available ETHERNET ports on the TC? Or is it a situation of "one or the other" and I'll have to choose between the NAS and TC?

[Chris Breen]

jcomx7, on 24 November 2011 - 06:09 AM, said:

This appears to be an excellent solution to my needs. Before buying this NAS I downlowded the installation instructions. It states "Use the LAN cable to connect the server to your switch/router/hub." The router provided by my cable company only has one (1) ETHERNET port, into which I plug my Time Capsule. How do I work around this? Do I instead have to plug the NAS into one of the available ETHERNET ports on the TC? Or is it a situation of "one or the other" and I'll have to choose between the NAS and TC?

You plug the NAS into one of the Time Capsule's Ethernet ports.

[jcomx7]

Chris Breen, on 24 November 2011 - 09:25 AM, said:

jcomx7, on 24 November 2011 - 06:09 AM, said:

This appears to be an excellent solution to my needs. Before buying this NAS I downlowded the installation instructions. It states "Use the LAN cable to connect the server to your switch/router/hub." The router provided by my cable company only has one (1) ETHERNET port, into which I plug my Time Capsule. How do I work around this? Do I instead have to plug the NAS into one of the available ETHERNET ports on the TC? Or is it a situation of "one or the other" and I'll have to choose between the NAS and TC?

You plug the NAS into one of the Time Capsule's Ethernet ports.

Excellent. Thanks for the quick reply.

[JuanBotella]

Chris Breen, on 08 November 2011 - 07:25 AM, said:

btb83, on 08 November 2011 - 06:29 AM, said:

3) You didn't share your backup strategy for the NAS. You do have a backup strategy, don't you Chris? I'm surprised you didn't get a two-disk NAS for that purpose?

Of course. But I wanted the article to be strictly focused on a NAS as media server rather than "5 Things You Can Do With a NAS."

That doesn't mean that such an article won't one day appear, but it's not this one.

Hi Chris. I understand you might address the backup topic in a later article but, could you give me a spoiler and tell me if a Synology with two bay stations can be used to both create a home cloud as you described in your article and also back it up? I can wait a couple of weeks if you are working on a backing up article with NAS, but it is a pressing need and would like to get the right hardware. Thanks a lot!