Q: Installing content to a NAS

Question

Level 1

129 points

Q: Installing content to a NAS

My laptop doesn't have the HDD space for me to install all Logic content (loops, samples, etc.) I do, however, have a massive NAS, but the installer won't let me select it when specifying other location. Does anyone have a tip/trick to overcome this? Thanks -

MBP CD, Mac OS X (10.6.4)

Posted on Aug 7, 2010 9:45 PM

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Answer 1

noeqplease

Level 4

3,589 points

Aug 8, 2010 9:37 AM in response to Steven Kim

Steven Kim wrote:
My laptop doesn't have the HDD space for me to install all Logic content (loops, samples, etc.) I do, however, have a massive NAS, but the installer won't let me select it when specifying other location. Does anyone have a tip/trick to overcome this? Thanks -

Yes, I know. tip/trick for this.

1.- Don't try to use the NAS (Network Attached Server) to play back any audio. Bad idea, this is not designed for this type of work. I'm not joking here either... so don't ask for another "workaround" with this equipment.

2.- Go and buy, yes, BUY a dedicated FireWire hard drive with a spindle speed of 7200 rpm or faster. Again, do not try to buy a USB or other lesser type of drive, as it will not work. I recommend Glyphtech. They have a 5 year warranty and free data recovery for the first year.

Anything else as a " workaround" will simply explode in your face.

BTW the Logic Manual clearly states what you need to have in order to record and play back audio, and right there it states it is a good idea to have a dedicated hard drive, so no, I am not blowing smoke up your you-know-what...

Cheers

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Answer 2

Steven Kim Author

Level 1

129 points

Aug 8, 2010 2:59 PM in response to noeqplease

Thanks for the reply. This current thread is a part of my attempt to move away from USB/FW drives and turn my workstations into shells as much as possible. I recently sold my desktop and am also selling my external drives. I'm familiar with the points you raise; I'm hoping to try to beat the odds.

FWIW, I've had complete success in running my studio out of my NAS (other than this current issue). Recording to and playback from the NAS have given me no problems whatsoever. I have gigabit connections to the NAS and workstations, where at this point the actual drive speed is the bottleneck more than the transport. I have a RAID6 configuration which addresses the drive speeds, so my NAS configuration is technically superior to an external FW drive in every way.

So I understand this is not an officially supported/recommended configuration. I'm hoping others have beaten the odds and can share tips to help me across my current impasse.

Thanks again -
Steven

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Answer 3

Steven Kim Author

Level 1

129 points

Aug 8, 2010 3:06 PM in response to Steven Kim

To clarify, for example, many directory-ties can be overcome with symbolic links (aliases). iTunes until recently didn't support non-default directories very elegantly, so I had always used symlinks to point to the physical files being located on an external drive. Can I do something similar with the Apple loops, samples, etc?

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Answer 4

Aug 8, 2010 4:19 PM in response to Steven Kim

You can definitely store the samples anywhere. The sampler instruments (not the samples themselves) want to be on the system drive but hey are relatively small files. The alias thing used to work in earlier versions of Logic and the OS, but I have not tried this since logic 7 and OS 9.2. Maybe someone else can help.

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Answer 5

Steven Kim Author

Level 1

129 points

Aug 8, 2010 5:13 PM in response to Data Stream Studio

Thanks - I'm thinking about installing it while a FW drive is attached, then moving the physical files onto the NAS. The problem is that I can't create symlinks since the original location (FW drive) will be gone altogether. I guess I can create /Volumes/<symlink the FW drive> but that seems a bit closer to sacrilege, symlinking pretending to be entire volumes. Who knows if some fsmount-related job will do stuff there!

A working option would be if I can modify a resource file that specified the directory of the samples/loops. Anyone know where this might be located?

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