Can I use a Mac mini and Synology NAS with my ATV4Ks?

[McScooby]

Or I'm having ISP problems. We've been over this already I think.

Dunno how many responders we've had in here, but I'm almost willing to bet that no two are skinning this cat in precisely the same way.

Yeah, it's one of those YMMV moments. If I was in your situation, the easiest way I'd probably do it is to keep stuff separated.

Your ripped blu-rays are on the NAS, so keep them there & run the ripped content off the syno video player or get plex/infuse to read them from there.

For Music/TV (newer names for iTunes) purchased content then keep those on the mini (which are downloaded) & can then be seen via the Computers app on Apple TV or Music/TV app on iOS devices using home sharing (to turn on use media sharing options in system preferences). I'm not sure how large your purchased library content is, so again ymmv & your Macmini TV/Music library can be moved if needed.

If money's no option for you & your purchased content library doesn't exceed 2TB, spec the biggest mini you can at the moment (16GB RAM & 2TB SSD) or wait for the rumored Macmini Pro in march which should see RAM & SSD capacities increase & run your purchased content from there using the Music/TV app on the Apple TV.

If money is an option, then get a base M1 mini (smallest drive & I'd opt for 16GB RAM, but if all your using it for is movies then 8GB would probably suffice, there's loads of other threads that discuss this) & move your whole Music/TV (iTunes) library to the NAS which always needs to be connected - there's chat on a syno forum & older instructions which should still work at the end here

When you buy content on the iPad, the mini can automatically be set to download a copy to your purchased Music/TV library folder which is then available to all devices, again via homesharing.

What you cannot do is have a split iTunes library for purchased content where some purchased files are contained within the Music/TV folders on your mac & some other location on the NAS.

My set-up is specific to my circumstances & as I don't download purchases I don't need to move my internal library.

Of course, you'd always see your purchased content in the music/tv apps under purchases, but these would stream.

If I'm wrong in what I've said, others can advise as I use an older macOS, but I'm pretty sure this is correct.

 

[laserfan]

Many thanks McScooby. [I think] that's clear enough for me now. This is all no doubt one of those many things re: computing that becomes clearer when you try, i.e. hard to describe but notas to do.

I already have the Mini, a great deal I thought, brand new @$429 from B&H, the last Intel version w/8GB RAM and 256GB SSD. This media server thing is all I will do with it, but I wanted it not only for this purpose but also cuz Wife has a MacBook and I wanted to get smarter about the MacOS.

I do, apart from the 40TB Synology NAS DS1019+ also have Infuse and it (sorta) works, the "sorta" referring to a lot of ripped stuff which plays fine but the failure (as I have already learned) of some of the subtitles to sync properly. Wife is hearing-impaired so everything needs the subs.

Thanks for the post, it is much appreciated. I will refer-back to this thread more than a few times I think!!!!

 

[priitv8]

I have only 1 question in my head.
You have a mac mini. Then why would you think about buying a NAS - a second computer inside a disk array? I had a similar setup until I realised that NAS is only worth having if you plan getting rid of a mini and can have everything being served from it directly.
I took the opposite approach. I get everything served from mac mini. It is a more powerful and versatile computer anyway, than small and weak computer inside most NAS-es.
So I kept my mini, but replaced the NAS with a DAS. A disk array directly connected to my mini, via USB3. Much befter combo.

 

[laserfan]

...why would you think about buying a NAS...

Simply put -- I wanted one!

And I have it doing other stuff for me as well.

 

[priitv8]

Simply put -- I wanted one!

And I have it doing other stuff for me as well.

I see.
I found the mini+das combo to be much more performant and flexible. The two together can actually be considered as one quite powerful nas. With quadcore i7 cpu and plenty of ram and full-fledged OS.
And especially in iTunes streaming scenario - I save one extra trip across the network for every file streamed.

 

[laserfan]

I do have a Mediasonic but it's only 4x1TB. I will at least plug it-up and see if it works with the Mini.

I don't suppose it is possible to have more than one library location...

 

[ascender]

Bit of a thread bump...

I currently have a Synology NAS with my iTunes files on it; a Mac Studio running the TV app connecting to the Synology; all devices connected over Ethernet.

I seem to have issues where the Synology goes to sleep which causes the Mac to be unable to save the library file which in turn causes the Apple TVs to not be able to find content via home sharing.

If I remove the Mac from the equation, can I just run the Plex/Infuse app to achieve the same thing and hopefully make it all more reliable?

 

[phrehdd]

Bit of a thread bump...

I currently have a Synology NAS with my iTunes files on it; a Mac Studio running the TV app connecting to the Synology; all devices connected over Ethernet.

I seem to have issues where the Synology goes to sleep which causes the Mac to be unable to save the library file which in turn causes the Apple TVs to not be able to find content via home sharing.

If I remove the Mac from the equation, can I just run the Plex/Infuse app to achieve the same thing and hopefully make it all more reliable?

If you remain with the Mac in the equation ...I can only relate a similar situation from long ago that had to do with NAS and iTunes. What I found is that if all of the iTunes files were on the NAS and the drives were spun down, iTunes would create a new library locally and this of course was a problem. I found that it was better to build the library locally (all files of iTunes) and the add* the files on the NAS while checking the box to not move the files to iTunes. When I clicked on iTunes, the app would come up and usually the NAS would shortly be spun up and files accessible. Later, I put a script that started up the NAS then opened up iTunes. I stopped having issues. I might suggest you pose your question/situation within Synology's own forums.

 

[ascender]

If you remain with the Mac in the equation ...I can only relate a similar situation from long ago that had to do with NAS and iTunes. What I found is that if all of the iTunes files were on the NAS and the drives were spun down, iTunes would create a new library locally and this of course was a problem. I found that it was better to build the library locally (all files of iTunes) and the add* the files on the NAS while checking the box to not move the files to iTunes. When I clicked on iTunes, the app would come up and usually the NAS would shortly be spun up and files accessible. Later, I put a script that started up the NAS then opened up iTunes. I stopped having issues. I might suggest you pose your question/situation within Synology's own forums.

Thanks, that's very helpful and yes, will have a look at Synology forums too.

 

[HobeSoundDarryl]

Bit of a thread bump...

I currently have a Synology NAS with my iTunes files on it; a Mac Studio running the TV app connecting to the Synology; all devices connected over Ethernet.

I seem to have issues where the Synology goes to sleep which causes the Mac to be unable to save the library file which in turn causes the Apple TVs to not be able to find content via home sharing.

If I remove the Mac from the equation, can I just run the Plex/Infuse app to achieve the same thing and hopefully make it all more reliable?

Yes, throughout a very long history of people trying to do this (and I mean all the way back to the early AppleTVs), the general rule and likely "best practice" has been to use local instead of NAS storage for this. iTunes and now (likely) TV app are finicky about the content they manage being directly- not indirectly- accessible.

Yes, there are workarounds (Plex/Infuse/Channels) using third party apps that basically bypass the iTunes/TV app content 'manager' entirely but then those can't deal with Apple DRM. So to do this in the best way, harmonious with Apple TV and iTunes/TV (as Apple intends)...

BEST OPTION HERE: big fat locally-attached drive(s) to store media collections, using the NAS as one backup for those files. When storing big files like movies on it, go into iTunes/TV settings and uncheck "Copy files to Media folder when adding to library" under the Files tab in Preferences. That basically says, add this file to my library but leave it where it is instead of copying it to my internal drive.

If anyone is using Time Machine and they have backups of this external they manage themselves, consider going into Time Machine and excluding this drive. That tells Time Machine to ignore backing up this drive when it does its thing. Key here is managing backups of this drive yourself so you have a way to recover your collection should that external ever conk. I always suggest 3 backups with at least 1 off site. Synology NAS is a good one that likely stays local.

Lastly (since I'm slinging some practical AppleTV wisdom here), do NOT trust the cloud. Do not trust leaving media you buy only in iTunes "cloud." Sooner or later, you WILL lose media and Apple may or may not be able to help you. If you buy from iTunes, ASAP download a copy to your media drive so that you control it yourself vs. trusting faceless strangers somewhere out in a cloud to care for managing your purchase. There are all kinds of reasons that can make iTunes purchases cease to be available. I have not heard of any of them coming into individuals home and stripping you of a copy on your own drive. Caveat Emptor!!!

 

[ascender]

So, it turns out the free version of Plex was the answer. I've got my library hosted there, am running the app on my Apple TVs and without the Mac in the equation, the Plex app works every time. I've not changed any of the wake-on-lan settings of the Synology, but its working much more reliably than having the Mac w/TV app doing the "home sharing" piece.