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ATV and external storage ?

D

droplink

macrumors regular
Original poster
Dec 7, 2014
168
137
HI!

I am looking into buying one of these:
http://www.dlink.com/uk/en/home-sol...ecenter-4-bay-cloud-network-storage-enclosure
..for my storage needs. I hope to use it for TimeMachine backup for my macs, and general file storage. Something it should be able to do.

I also want to get an Apple TV soon.
I currently have about 250+ DVDs that I hope to transcode to .mp4 using handbrake (will take forever, but so be it) and of course they will need a place to reside.

So my question is; Can I put the files onto the D-Link sharecenter and access them through Apple TV for viewing ?

Or would you recommend a different solution ?
 
You can by using an app such as Infuse (not out yet). You can also check out Nastify and Video Explorer. Two apps that are out that you can stream from.
 
Regarding the 250 dvd's. I did the same with 180 and have since dropped them. I found out I only watched about 10% at most. So I decided to buy via iTunes HD my favorite 10 and over the last 4+ years I have accumulated about 100. My point is that the quality is superior and they are available on all my devices without any effort. Many do what you are doing but wanted to give you my experience to consider.
 
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d21mike said:
Regarding the 250 dvd's. I did the same with 180 and have since dropped them. I found out I only watched about 10% at most. So I decided to buy via iTunes HD my favorite 10 and over the last 4+ years I have accumulated about 100. My point is that the quality is superior and they are available on all my devices without any effort. Many do what you are doing but wanted to give you my experience to consider.
Click to expand...

That is a vailid point, but unforunatly, many of my movies are forgein or rare, and are not available in iTunes.
Even so, I will still need to find a space to store the downloaded movies :)
 
droplink said:
That is a vailid point, but unforunatly, many of my movies are forgein or rare, and are not available in iTunes.
Even so, I will still need to find a space to store the downloaded movies :)
Click to expand...
Understand about the foreign and rare. I have really high speed internet so I just stream. I was downloading on one of my computers (just 1 copy and no backup) but dropped that. I understand that there can be a problem if a movie is dropped from the Apple Store but has not happen to me and not all that worried about it. I do download some to my iPad when I travel.
 
DVDs. Good grief. Save your time and money and just start buying HD video on iTunes. It's a thousand times better quality and you don't need excessive local storage thanks to iTunes in the Cloud.
 
TurboPGT! said:
DVDs. Good grief. Save your time and money and just start buying HD video on iTunes. It's a thousand times better quality and you don't need excessive local storage thanks to iTunes in the Cloud.
Click to expand...

Please note what I stated in post #4. I have lots of foreign movies and series that are not available in iTues.
Nor is my internet fast enough for me to just click and & play a movie.
Which is why I am searching for a solution to store movies at home.

I also do not see the point of re-buying movies I already own, even if they are in comparably low resolution.
 
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Install plex server on any decent laptop and download the plex client on appleTV.
My "HTPC" setup: Synology NAS for storage, Macbook Pro for Plex server (wifi), ATV w/ plex app. It will play virtually any media file you throw at it.
 
:(So either go with a third party app (as fishmoose listed) or go with an entire mac for a server ?
Darn darn darn.

Disappointing, I must say
 
droplink said:
:(So either go with a third party app (as fishmoose listed) or go with an entire mac for a server ?
Darn darn darn.

Disappointing, I must say
Click to expand...

The third party app solution is actually good. There's minimal effort to get it going. I have a Synology NAS with 12tb of storage and it works for me.
 
droplink said:
:(So either go with a third party app (as fishmoose listed) or go with an entire mac for a server ?
Darn darn darn.

Disappointing, I must say
Click to expand...
Here are 2 basic options (there are others, but these are most likely to suit you):

1) Computer (Mac, PC, Linux, etc.) running iTunes and/or Plex Media Server. That computer needs to be on the network and running. The media files can then be stored on internal and/or external drives (even on a USB drive attached to an Airport Router if you desire).

2) NAS box that is running on your network and capable of running the Plex Media Server software effectively. There are many stories about the successes/failures of this approach. And while less expensive to keep running, NAS boxes can be as much or more than a stand-alone computer.

I use #1 above. I have an iMac that is on 24x7, running both iTunes and Plex Media Server. My media is stored on an attached Drobo unit (i.e. - external hard drive). Both iTunes and Plex point the the same files, so the files are not duplicated. I have 3 AppleTVs, 1 Roku, and 1 FireTV Stick in the house, and have several family members using Plex on various devices to access remotely (FireTVs, iPhones, iPads). It is 99% reliable (may have to reboot the programs 1x a month or so, that's all).
 
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thanks jdag That is a detailed reply.
I have checked Plex's website for compatibility for the various NAS that are ourthere:
https://support.plex.tv/hc/en-us/articles/201373803-NAS-Compatibility-List
And it looks as thought he NAS that are capable of running Plex are rather expensive or hard to get by, or they are not good NAS (for me)

So I think it will have to be a NAS + Mac mini + Apple TV :(

Thanks for the replies!
 
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droplink said:
HI!

I am looking into buying one of these:
http://www.dlink.com/uk/en/home-sol...ecenter-4-bay-cloud-network-storage-enclosure
..for my storage needs. I hope to use it for TimeMachine backup for my macs, and general file storage. Something it should be able to do.

I also want to get an Apple TV soon.
I currently have about 250+ DVDs that I hope to transcode to .mp4 using handbrake (will take forever, but so be it) and of course they will need a place to reside.

So my question is; Can I put the files onto the D-Link sharecenter and access them through Apple TV for viewing ?

Or would you recommend a different solution ?
Click to expand...

In it's native form Apple TV requires an iTunes server...meaning iTunes must be running on the server. However as long as that server can access whatever storage you choose to use, you can use any storage you want. So if your Mac or Windows computer can access that DLink NAS (I would recommend the USB 3.0 connection) then iTunes can store videos on it and make them available to Apple TV.

You can also attach it as a network drive and let iTunes attach that way, but I found network attached drives and iTunes under OSX are finicky. Windows wasn't as bad...I think it's more to do with how the operating system handles the data behind the scenes then iTunes itself not likeing a network drive.

But regardless, for Apple TV to work, there has a to a middle man that can serve the content. Apple TV cannot directly access content.
 
droplink said:
Please note what I stated in post #4. I have lots of foreign movies and series that are not available in iTues.
Nor is my internet fast enough for me to just click and & play a movie.
Which is why I am searching for a solution to store movies at home.

I also do not see the point of re-buying movies I already own, even if they are in comparably low resolution.
Click to expand...

If your internet connection isn't very good, you may struggle streaming anything to your ATV4. Local or otherwise.
 
DNichter said:
Wouldn't it? You still have to stream from a computer to the ATV. I would think your internet connection would play a part in this.
Click to expand...
Internet speed is irrelevant if you are streaming from a local hard drive to a local streaming box. In fact, Internet connectivity is not even necessary in such a use case.
 
jdag said:
Internet speed is irrelevant if you are streaming from a local hard drive to a local streaming box. In fact, Internet connectivity is not even necessary in such a use case.
Click to expand...

Okay! Good to know. I had no idea. I always thought buffering and such from my computer to my ATV was from a bad internet connection. So I don't even need these devices connected to the Internet at all?
 
jdag said:
Internet speed is irrelevant if you are streaming from a local hard drive to a local streaming box. In fact, Internet connectivity is not even necessary in such a use case.
Click to expand...

That's not ENTIRELY true. The Apple TV with authenticate the Home Sharing accounts from time to time. If it cannot reach the Apple central servers, you will only be able to stream music from a local computer....no movies.

This is from experience :(
 
westrock2000 said:
That's not ENTIRELY true. The Apple TV with authenticate the Home Sharing accounts from time to time. If it cannot reach the Apple central servers, you will only be able to stream music from a local computer....no movies.

This is from experience :(
Click to expand...
Home Sharing will be unavailable, if iTunes Store can not be reached for authentication. But I am pretty sure, you still can play your move simply via AirPlay.
Meaning, you start playback on your computer in iTunes and then turn on the AirPlay streaming to aTV.
Or heck, even use Beamer, if iTunes is not your thing. Beamer, for sure, can not use iTunes authentication. But it works.
That is kind of unfortunate, that behind the single term "AirPlay" hide actually several different technologies.
 
fishmoose said:
You can by using an app such as Infuse (not out yet). You can also check out Nastify and Video Explorer. Two apps that are out that you can stream from.
Click to expand...

I got picked up for the Beta of the new Infuse app...wait for it! It is an amazing app and is "wife-proof". Seriously the only reason I got the app was for my wife and she has yet to make any complaints about it since.
Also, although it is a third-party app, FireCore has really polished the app...they have been making Infuse for the ATV for years now, to be installed via a jailbreak on the ATV1 and ATV2. Not to mention, you don't need a server running on your NAS or other machine. Point the app to your collection and it does all the work, to include searching for Metadata. It is seriously that easy.
 
I'm a fan of Infuse and used it on my aTV2 and continue to use it for some things on my iOS devices. The problem I have with it is that you end up managing metadata on various devices, which is where Plex provides a much cleaner solution where you have lots of media and want to manage it in one place, on a media server.
 
DNichter said:
Okay! Good to know. I had no idea. I always thought buffering and such from my computer to my ATV was from a bad internet connection. So I don't even need these devices connected to the Internet at all?
Click to expand...

Thats the crappy ATV. I've had every version, and they all had issues. A couple weeks back I bought the new one, and 20 minutes into a movie(netflix), the ATV lost voice sinc, so it went back to Fry's, and I came home with a Roku4. I find the Roku better than the ATV in most ways. And for the OP, you can hang a drive off a Roku and play your movies.
 
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