ITunes Library on a NAS

It's not an ideal solution for everyone and it comes at a price...

I copied my entire music folder which includes iTunes to my ReadyNAS duo and run my Sonos speakers from there.

I did it because I didn't want a PC on all the time.

I now use Chronosync to update the NAS from the music folder on my Mac as and when needed. I have used free file sync programs equally successfully.

I run two updates as required; one just for daily podcasts which takes a few seconds, and one for the whole music library which takes a few minutes.

It has worked perfectly for years whether updated by Windows PC or latterly, the Mac.

Itunes organises everything and Sonos plays it.

a single Sonos speaker is £130 ish but they are really really good and I can wholeheartedly recommend them

Thanks, but this is not a solution, quite even the contrary: in fact you duplicate your itunes library that resides on your PC.

What am I supposed to feel?

iSCSI works with "Keep iTunes Organized". Are you familiar with using it?

"Keep itunes library organised" - as I describe in my previous post, is exactly where the problem resides. In fact if the NAS is not allowed to manage files and folders the risks of messing up the file structure (and the files themselves) are greatly reduced (at the cost of a little more personal effort for managing the library in its physical location).

And I don't know how you are supposed to feel. Did I write anything that offends you?

I simply noted that purchasing a third party app for each computer that needs to access the shared drive is expensive, and running your NAS from a 16 Gb RAM 6Tb system is way more expensive than a WD My Cloud solution at 2Tb, or a two bay Synology 2xx series. We are definitely not talking about the same budget, nor the same effort to setup (WDmYCloud is literally plug and play, requires no specific knowledge from the user, and is DLNA enabled...).

Note also that there is no official Apple support for iSCSI. So is this a viable/durable solution? Just asking, not arguing 😉

BTW: there is a iSCSI tutorial for Synology users on a Mac. Good luck with the configuration! It takes a lot of geekyness to set up... I wouldn't try it myself

found it here (pardon my French) https://www.synology.com/fr-fr/knowledgebase/tutorials/468

PS: I've been a long time user of SCSI storage for my samplers and PCs in the mid nineties - and I was quite happy to see the industry move away from this very complex standard, and chose USB instead. With these memories I would probably not be inclined to go towards a solution that has SCSI in its name. But that's only me...

HI- okay, it's clear to me now. Cost.

Why not a 2TB local disk? USB, Thunderbolt? That's $80 USD (USB).

enable homesharing and go.

Even in French I was able to understand and would have no issues with setting up a synology NAS. I have faith in your geekiness and I feel that you could configure iSCSI as such.

I have tried Homesharing, but it not so good. First because it requires a 'master' PC to be on at all times. And that would be my Macbok, which often leaves the house as I travel... leaving family users stranded... The good point of the Synology NAS is that it is DLNA enabled, so the Video and Music contents (including the Itunes Music folder) are seamlessly available for all DLNA devices, such as android tablets, Video Streamer, HiFi etc. and ipods/macbooks around the house. Homesharing though wifi is also excruciatingly slow...

I think that the Apple approach to DRM is one of the driving forces behind all the ******** we have to cope with as Itunes users. Itunes has progressively moved from being a cataloging tool for users media libraries (with lots of user controls to fine tune the catalog) to a push system for selling pre-formatted media content to users.

See how many users are complaining with lost features with every new Itunes release. FYI I am sticking to Itunes 9 (with OSX 10,5,8) to manage the library, because it is much more flexible tha later versions.

What specifically are you talk about with lack of flexibility in iTunes?

Also check to see if WD has a DAAP server as an app. It's an open source version of HomeSharing. I have used it on NetGear Routers and NAS drives. It's great. No computers have to be on.

By flexibility I mean library management tools.

Such as managing genres, or embedding album art.

I don't have the WD anymore. But the Synology gives us a mode called "Itunes support", which is supposedly designed for Mac users to host their Itunes media library on the NAS, from the synology users forum I have understoofd that it is using DAAP. Since I am not computer savvy I have not researched any further than that.

This mode indeed allows to load the library in Itunes from any OSX/IOS device connected to my home network. But it is read-only (can't transfer files on an ipod for instance) and has limited options, for instance you can't see playlists, can't see ratings, etc. It is only a very basic music streamer. And quite slow too. WIth the limited options it gives us we are better off using DSaudio (the Synology free music streaming app for Synology NAS). It is not perfect but at least it is seamless.

But thank you for trying to help.

I know about DSaudio. I understand your concern about playlist and ratings with the DAAP server. Much of those pieces of information are part of the iTunes library, further It will take some savvy to understand how to implement those features AND the smart playlists under a DAAP server. Short story, iTunes is the preferred way.

https://github.com/ejurgensen/forked-daapd

I will give you flexibility when you are talking about using a Synology NAS - iTunes is inflexible. However a Mac Mini with a 2-12TB storage array connected via Thunderbolt is the "Apple answer" to what you seek. Even a basic $499 MacMini stuffed with 400GB Music is going to work better then any third party vendor NAS.

I'm not trying to be smug, but that's the construct that Apple has provided- and it works.

In fact I have a mac mini. But if I store all media on a local (ThunderB) drive I don't get DLNA compatibility. This is a requirement of other devices around the home. In particular my HiFi system is DLNA enabled, but don't like Apple Homesharing at all. Then I shall resort to the second best solution of replicating/syncing the 'local' itunes media folder to a NAS as suggested by some user previously. And then we are now back to the start: Apple doesn't like that us customers move away from the brand...

I am quite disappointed by all this.

Use a DLNA server app such as Logitech Media Server.

I LOVE YOU 😀

Like many others, I'm inclined to moving my iTunes Library to our Synology NAS... yes, even after reading this entire thread slowly and carefully. First trial runs show everything works nice and smooth - but I realize this was true for others as well, until iTunes decided to go berserk and mess around with the Library.

Has anyone figured out what causes iTunes to start misbehaving? It sounds like it may be a good idea to not let it manage files and folders - but then again from reading this thread that doesn't seem to be enough to be on the safe side.

I don't think starting up iTunes when the network drive is not properly connected can possibly be the cause for iTunes' irrational behavior - as in that case, iTunes can't access the Library at all, and the worst that can happen is, I have to tell iTunes again to start using the Library on the NAS.

Could it be an unstable WLAN connection between Macbook (running iTunes) and Synology (holding the Library)? So would it help to only ever start iTunes when the Macbook is connected via Ethernet?

Does it have a negative effect to access the Library files using DSAudio (or other apps that are not iTunes)? If so, this would actually be a showstopper for me, as the main reason I'm considering the move is that I don't want a computer with iTunes running all the time to be able to access my music...

Edit: I should probably also mention that the only reason I really need to use iTunes is to backup my iPhone and to copy music to my iPod. Other than that, I'm happy to stream music directly from the NAS and not use iTunes at all - i.e. I'm not an iTunes "Power User".