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Which NAS for iTunes Server

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webcity

macrumors member
Original poster
Sep 16, 2011
94
0
United Kingdom
As previously posted, my wife and I have a lot of music stored digitally. We would like to centralise this and store it on an 'iTunes server', access the iTunes server from both out computers (iMacs) and also be able to iTunes Match to access the music on the AppleTV and our iPhones, etc.

So, what's the best Nas drive for using as an iTunes server? I've not got loads of money to spend but want something that's going to be fairly decent speed and more importantly, reliable.

I'm assuming that to achieve what I want, I only need to use the NAS as a shared network drive and store all music on that rather than using an actual iTunes server function. Is that correct?

Edit: Just a thought, would I be better off getting something like a HP Microserver and running FreeNas on it?
 
Last edited:
B

Bear

macrumors G3
Jul 23, 2002
8,088
5
Sol III - Terra
webcity said:
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I'm assuming that to achieve what I want, I only need to use the NAS as a shared network drive and store all music on that rather than using an actual iTunes server function. Is that correct?

Edit: Just a thought, would I be better off getting something like a HP Microserver and running FreeNas on it?
Click to expand...
If you use a NAS box as disk sharing, you get the issue of managing the music with multiple iTunes clients and could have data synchronization issues. You really need an iTunes server for things to be as smooth as possible.

You might want to consider a Mac mini and use iTunes on that. With a disk shared out that you can drop ripped music to that and use screen sharing to control the mini when needed. The you would share out the iTunes library so you could pick it up on othe rMacs in the house. And you would also use that as the master library for iTunes Match.
 
W

webcity

macrumors member
Original poster
Sep 16, 2011
94
0
United Kingdom
so if I have an iTunes Server and add songs to the library on one mac, will they automatically be added to the second mac?

To be honest, I couldn't really afford (or justify) the cost of a Mac Mini for this task which is why I was looking into getting a HP Microserver as it'll only cost about £80 after cashback.
 
Z

zObsidian

macrumors member
Nov 25, 2010
53
0
A device supporting iTunes Server will store all the music on your NAS and allow your music to show up in iTunes as a shared device. You can play your music on any computer using iTunes.

There are a few limitations, I don't think it keeps track of certain things like play counts, and for some reason it doesn't seem to work with iOS devices like an iPad or iPhone.

Alternatively, you can stick your music on the NAS and then set your iTunes Media folder to the network location (Preferences, Advanced).

I own a Dlink DNS-323 and it works pretty well, though I use it primarily as a NAS with a backup of my music on it and my main music collection is on my desktop. It's old, and they have a newer model if you're interested.
 
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