iTunes-Server on NAS & Apple TV

itunes servers on NAS devices are usually not "proper" itunes instances, and as such the appletv cannot use them. appletv requires a proper itunes library.

i've looked at a lot but haven't found any NAS's that runs an "iTunes Server" that can interface with an AppleTV... the problem is the pairing. you are not able to pair the iTunes instance with the appleTV.

it can work like a computer running with iTunes sharing turned on i.e. you can share with other computer around the house. although most NASs are much slower than one might think and are likely only suitable for streaming music and not video. a computer on the other hand running iTunes with sharing turned on can easily share music and movie over the network though... i do this at my home. i have all my files attached to externals on a computer in the office and stream to appleTV but also stream music and mostly movies (via iTunes sharing) to a Mac Mini in a bedroom.

if you are interested in a very inexpensive solution to stream music only to a stereo, you can simply use an airport express, hook it up to your stereo using a mini TosLink to TosLink cable.. and set it as an airTunes speaker in iTunes and use your iPhone Remote app to control playback.

Jambalahja wrote:
Hello,

is it possible to run a NAS-based iTunes-Server via Airport Extreme and play musicfiles from the NAS with the Apple TV, without having a mac/pc running?

Or is there any solution to stream Music to my hifi (BOSE Lifestyle) while using the iPhone-Remote, withour having a mac/pc running?

Pretty much all NAS based iTunes Servers use the free Firefly software (as far as I am aware, e.g. NetGear ReadyNAS). Firefly is the current incarnation of MT-DAAP, as suggested by that name, it implements the DAAP (Digital Audio Access Protocol) iTunes uses to share and connect to other iTunes shared libraries.

However as mentioned here, you cannot connect an Apple TV to Firefly since Firefly (currently) does not support doing the pairing process. It appears, that on top of this the Apple TV is using a slightly different protocol called DACP (Digital Audio Control Protocol) which adds the ability to for example use an iPhone as a remote control to an Apple TV (or to iTunes).

It appears DACP like DAAP has now been successfully deciphered, see http://dacp.jsharkey.org/ however this has not yet been added to Firefly. It might have been added to a developer pre-release of MT-DAAPd but the MT-DAAPd site appears to be down at the moment.

Kinda depends on what you mean about not having a PC running.
If you import to itunes the content on the NAS (uncheck copy into itunes library), all you would have to do is sync it one time to the ATV, then the computer is no longer needed. This is the setup I use to have one common library for all computers in the house.

While that is not an iTunes server you don't need the computer except for occasionally adding and removing content.

Other than that, I would concur with all the other comments about true servers and pairing.

By syncing, don't you mean copying the contents of the NAS to the Apple TV. I have been considering a NAS as well for my Apple TV but want it to stream instead of saving everything on the disk. My MDD will soon be a dedicated server for Apple TV but it would be nice if a NAS could be used for primary storage of iTunes library, aperture photo vault, etc. for all computers/Apple TV.

what makes putting it on a NAS better than just sharing the drive with other computers on the network?

Yes, syncing would be copying to ATV and if you have huge amounts of content, this is probably not the best solution. The original poster did not want to always involve a computer so that pretty much rules out streaming.

But if you have a NAS or any external drive filled with your content and photos and don't mind using your computer you can stream it. Both iTunes and iPhoto give you the option of adding content to the library without actually copying it to the computer's internal drive. All of my iTunes content is on my Time capsule 1TB drive and I can sync it or stream it depending on which computer I want to use.

We do all the photos, well not ALL the photos, using MobileMe web galleries for ATV. Got my mom one so I don't have to send her photos, just tune the ATV to the new gallery.

I would imagine the only thing that might trip you up is if everything is wireless networking. Maybe someone else will pipe up and say how the quality is when you wirelessly pull the content to your computer and then stream it wirelessly back up to the Access Point then back again to the ATV.

Look into Drobo and the add on application that can run iTunes as a NAS

Joe Cirino wrote:
Look into Drobo and the add on application that can run iTunes as a NAS

The problem is that the Drobo, and the NetGear ReadyNAS (and other NAS servers) use the Firefly software to act as an 'iTunes' server and as per my previous post in this thread, currently Firefly does not support talking to the Apple TV.

Someone would have to update the Firefly (aka. mt-daap) software to add support for the DACP protocol that Apple TV uses ('normal' iTunes and Firefly use the DAAP protocol).