Love my ultimate 11"- but have 1 question

[driphone]

I think this is the best computer (laptop) I've ever owned. I love it.

My question is: can I use my iMac (1TB storage) as a NAS and store large libraries like Aperture and iTunes on our wireless network? I had lots of trouble setting up a Synology NAS (DS211J) for the same purpose.

TIA.
Sam

 

[brand]

You could use the iMac to store data on but it wouldn't be a NAS. Also the iMac would only be accessible from your local network unless you configured your network for outside access.

 

[ssmed]

Can I use my iMac (1TB storage) as a NAS and store large libraries like Aperture and iTunes on our wireless network?

This works well for iTunes (either with iTunes running and home sharing on or just through sharing the drive (best if it is only one device connecting), but Aperture will fair less well as the speed of data transmission may make it slow. It is acceptable here on a 1000mb/s network attached to a fast RAID 5 storage device, but is nowhere near as good as when locally attached.

You are effectively using the iMac as a server, rather than a NAS and perhaps should keep Aperture on there. I have a temporary (import only Aperture Library on my portable). To make the screen go black and secure the machine place the keychain menu in the menu bar and then you can use the 'Lock screen' menu at will.

As soon as you get more than 1 computer working at different time, file management becomes more difficult and you might want to consider a system such as Dropbox (which runs over the LAN as well as internet) to help with this.

HTH

 

[BigSaintDogs]

I make a copy of my Aperture 3 library to a portable disk to take on the road then By opening the Aperture 3 library in Finder and your Air will show the entire library. It does not take long to copy the latest library version to my prattle drive and I always have what I want on the road. I do local file sharing at home though. I use the lithe WD 1TB Passport and have had great luck. It gives you a back up as well as a place to store other media like movies.
Good luck

 

[mkelly]

My question is: can I use my iMac (1TB storage) as a NAS and store large libraries like Aperture and iTunes on our wireless network? I had lots of trouble setting up a Synology NAS (DS211J) for the same purpose.

Just wondering: what kind of trouble were you having with your Synology? I have a DS411 (same admin UI) and didn't have any problems at all - I'm storing large Aperture and iTunes libraries on it & accessing them without trouble from my MBA.

The only trick was that you have to install the beta of Synology's 3.2 DSM (the OS that runs on the NAS) - Apple changed the way Appletalk functions in Lion, and the older Synology OS wasn't quite up-to-snuff.

 

[driphone]

This works well for iTunes (either with iTunes running and home sharing on or just through sharing the drive (best if it is only one device connecting), but Aperture will fair less well as the speed of data transmission may make it slow. It is acceptable here on a 1000mb/s network attached to a fast RAID 5 storage device, but is nowhere near as good as when locally attached.

You are effectively using the iMac as a server, rather than a NAS and perhaps should keep Aperture on there. I have a temporary (import only Aperture Library on my portable). To make the screen go black and secure the machine place the keychain menu in the menu bar and then you can use the 'Lock screen' menu at will.

As soon as you get more than 1 computer working at different time, file management becomes more difficult and you might want to consider a system such as Dropbox (which runs over the LAN as well as internet) to help with this.

HTH

So far, I have stored the iTunes library on the iMac and with sharing the drive I have pointed iTunes on MBA to it. It works OK only noticed a bit of frame interruption when I view Star Trek the HD. The only problem is that occasionally, I need to re-point the iTunes library to the iMac to reconnect. The Aperture data is currently stored on the MBA and it works great. Having the two will create the capacity shortage problem even with my 256 GB SSD.

So as I understand the Dropbox is a viable option. I'll look into it.
Thank you.
Sam

 

[driphone]

Just wondering: what kind of trouble were you having with your Synology? I have a DS411 (same admin UI) and didn't have any problems at all - I'm storing large Aperture and iTunes libraries on it & accessing them without trouble from my MBA.

The only trick was that you have to install the beta of Synology's 3.2 DSM (the OS that runs on the NAS) - Apple changed the way Appletalk functions in Lion, and the older Synology OS wasn't quite up-to-snuff.

Pm sent.
Thx.
Sam