Can I use a 2TB NAS to store iTunes and backup my mac

[mpovolo]

I am buying a 2 bay synology today and I wanted to store my itunes there and backup my computers to the same drive?

I am thinking of storing my pictures there also.

 

[ergdegdeg]

Time Machine and iTunes should work flawlessly, although you should create a separate user account for Time Machine so you can set a quota and it doesn't use up all your space.

As for photos, it's usually way too slow to work properly with iPhoto et al.

 

[mpovolo]

thanks

 

[slowtraveler]

If you happen to use Apple Lossless (ALAC) encoding for music files, check the Synology and Apple support forums for discussions about limitations on Synology's support for this particular format in their product. IIRC, you can't stream ALAC-coded files from the Synology NAS.

 

[dime21]

NAS is typically a poor performer compared to DAS. The problem with NAS is the bulky and inefficient TCP/IP layer. Even on Gigabit Ethernet, your real world transfer speeds won't be much better than USB, and latency will be even worse than USB.

You'll get way way better performance with DAS, using eSata or Firewire 800.