Mac Mini, Synology, Apple TV, iTunes - where to start

This is indead a great thread.

I also have a synology NAS and was running Plex server on it but having added some TV sticks and DVB-Link (which works really well and allows me to record the HD channels available in the UK) I wanted to be able to play recorded TV on Plex without converting them to a format that doesn't require trancoding. So I now have Plex Media Server Running on my Minimac with all my movies, music and recorded TV on my NAS. This works very well. The Samsung Plex Client works very well for Movies and Recorded TV on the TV and the IOS client works well on iPads and iPhones for Movies, Music and most recorded TV. The recorded TV is in .ts files and for some reason only shorter files seem to playable on IOS running Plex (upto about an hour) I'm investigating this but haven't got to the bottom of it yet - any ideas would be appriciated.

Then we come to Apple TV's - it is really sad they don't work with Plex as they are by far the best media streamer around and I love the inteface. I don't think it will happen but i think Apple sould include Plex or the Apple TV will become redundant. I'm in the process of replacing my daughter ATV on her non smart TV with a ROKU LT media streamer (£39-00) as this will run Plex I let you no how it goes.

Wow, I can totally relate to this thread...

I currently have a Synology 1511+ with 5 x 3TB formatted RAID6, Macbook Pro, Mac Mini Server, iPad mini, ATV3, etc... I've been on the big journey of converting all movies/tv shows and managing everything in iTunes.

I currently point my iTunes Media folder to a share on the Synology which is then checked as a media indexing share inside of DiskStation. This allows me to use iTunes as the front-end on my computers, while having all of the iTunes media stored on the Synology, but still allows me to stream my content when away from home in my car using the DSaudio app from Synology. Anything I throw into iTunes goes on the Synology as is immediately available via the DS apps. I simply added my iTunes share to automatically mount at login in OSX. I originally tried the iTunes server built into the Synology but it's a joke. Pointing my iTunes library directly to a share on the Synology works out great for most things but I'm considering changing my workflow.

I currenlty have all of my movies/tv shows ripped as .m4v and reside in iTunes (but located on the Synology). As long as I have an instance of iTunes running, my ATV3 can see all of these files just fine. Everything, including HD content, has no problem streaming via home sharing over wireless. This is great, and considered ideal because I didn't have to jailbreak anything and all of my content is stored on the Synology.

My biggest problem with this method is that I have to have iTunes running. So, of course, the complete dork side of me that just can't let anything be good enough, I have to research all of my options to death... That landed me on this thread where I see many intriguing options.

I really wanted to give Plex Media Server a try. Since I have an ATV3, jailbreaking was out of the question and the only possible solution would be to use my iPad, iPhone, or computer to airplay the content from Plex to the ATV3. This is a possibility, but that's what I'm writing here for - to those that have done this approach, would you recommend it more so than my current solution - and if so, why? Does Plex offer any big advantages that I'm overlooking currently? The fact that my Synology box can run Plex - and all of my content is actually located on the Synology itself - it seems awfully silly to even need iTunes in the loop at all. I prefer the DSaudio app on my phone and don't use iTunes match or anything like that - I do use iTunes for music on my computer but I'd have probably no problem using Audio Station in the browser if I had to ditch iTunes.

One other thing I've been looking at a lot lately is photo/video management, especially for iPhone photos and videos. I have a daughter so I take a ton of pictures/videos. I currently use iPhoto (stored locally) and like that I can integrate that with the ATV3 so well. What I don't like however, is relying on iPhoto long-term and the fact that I'm tied to their database and their way of managing my photos. I also would like to take advantage of using the Synology DSphoto and DSvideo apps on the iPhone but that would mean my content need to be stored on the Synology. I've tried pointing iPhoto to a share on the Synology (super slow!) and also tried writing my own script to manually copy the contents of iPhoto to a share on the Synology - where I could then index all of those photos and they be sent to DSphoto - but that's just a pain and doesn't work the way I had hoped.

Anyway, that's where the more I looked into Plex, the more I got a little interested. Would Plex solve any of the listed above problems? I love Apple. And I love Synology. I don't dislike iTunes, but I'm not in love with it either. I love the interface of the ATV3. All sounds great right? Wrong. So many options. So many great options - yet, I still feel like I haven't yet found the right "combination" of all services. I can relate to many on here. What do you suggest?

Thanks for all the help and hopefully we can all figure this out together.

Greetings, Fujita Senpai (and, Tam)

I happened to just stumble across this discussion actually while doing a Google search for Synology and it's support (or lack of support) for AirPlay for streaming objectives. Like many, I want to 'easily' (that's the catch word) stream photos and videos (not just music) content from my Synology NAS device to my living room TV.

I currently reside in Tokyo, and there are seldom if ever, blackouts to contend with and worry about. So, UPS is out of sight, out of budget and out of the question for myself. Never bought one in all my years of computing and doubt I ever will but who knows. Circumstances might change.

* Equipment

NAS: Synology DS-1513+, Synology DS-213 (backup NAS)

Computers: Macbook Pro (retina, late 2013) MacMini (2012 last one) AppleTV3

* Desired Objective

Store all my content on the Synology. Have it available remotely and mobile which it is, via their iOS applications... DS Audio, DS Video, etc. And, at home (the issue), I also want to view movies, TV shows, and camera created video content stored on Synology NAS device and streamed to my living room flat panel TV.

* Considerations

I currently have AppleTV3 in the living room and it is there primarily to connect my flat panel TV via HDMI / miniDisplayPort. It also functions to receive content over Airplay or my wired (gigabit) home network via a 3rd party app that will allow me to stream content I access from my Synology NAS to my MacMini / MacbookPro via simple drag and drop to the 3rd party app (Beamer) and then sends the stream to AppleTV3 over the wired Gigabit LAN to display on TV.

I had the MacMini out in the living room previously but pulled it out of service thinking that a full fledged computer there was a wasted resource and decided to just place an AppleTV3 there for the same purpose. I currently use the MacMini as my main productivity machine and use the rMBP as my 'road warrior' machine.

Replacing the Mac Mini in living room with the AppleTV3 was a much cheaper solution, but then, that is pretty much where the advantage ends. There are many restrictions for accessing home network resources because of 'walled garden' policies that exist with the AppleTV3. (1) every thing must route through iTunes and (2) codecs (wrappers) you can playback are restricted.... mp4, mov and that's it! I have lots of data in AVI, MKV, MPG, etc., that will AppleTV3 / iTunes will not accept nor recognize. Thus, all that data is rendered useless at the mercy of a device. I am not about to start spending hours upon hours going through video conversions to accommodate a device.

* Forward Strategy

What I am now rethinking is to bring the macmini back into the living room as the path of least resistance. Although it is a more expensive proposition, to get around the 'walled garden' restrictions imposed by the AppleTV3, is to eliminate it from my system (sell it on auction) altogether and recommission the MacMini to fulfill the function of media control in the living room. It can further function as home 'server' as well since it is integrated into the home network and can be accessed from my backroom via remote display access, etc. As such, I can set up movies to stream from my Synology NAS device to the MacMini to display content on my TV. Being that the MacMini is a full fledged computer and not an AppleTV3, I will not have to deal with access limitations imposed by that product. I can still use iTunes if I like, but there are also a myriad of other players that can also be used as well, transcending the functionality of iTunes / AppleTV. They will allow me to play any codec I desire to play. Again, being a full-fledged computer, the MacMini can also have Plex Media Player which can then also interact with an installation of Plex Media Server on my Synology DS-1513+. Does this make sense? It should work, no? I have not tried it but intend to do so going forward. As policies change at Apple, I need to readjust personal home network policies to still allow me to do what I want to do.

* Final Thoughts

Going back to the concern about power outage, UPS devices, etc., one thought I have going forward is to eventually replace the MacMini in the living room with a basic (save money) Macbook Air model. Considering the technology disrupting nature of Apple as a company, (... History, killing off X-serve, Macbook Pro 17", and other technologies) without having the privilege of attending policy changes in action at Apple inhouse business strategy meetings, I personally feel they are going to let the MacMini die. They have not done any advancement with the product line since 2012 and the Ivy Bridge processor. We're already well into last year's Haswell in the market place for some time now and on the threshold of Intel's nextgen Broadwell. I don't think Apple will kill off their Macbook line (not yet, at least), so, that seems to be some 'life beyond macmini' as a alternative solution to living room deployment. By placing a basic Macbook Air model, closed lid, in the living room, I have every thing that the MacMini provided, but with these added advantages:

(1) Alleviate power failure / UPS concerns. Unlike the MacMini, the MBA will continue running on battery until power is restored, whether sleep mode or actively being used. No need for a UPS.

(2) Mobility failover system. If my main rMBP should ever suddenly fail for some reason, I can immediately disconnect the MBA and let it temporarily become the 'road warrior' until the primary rMBP is fixed.

I love my Synology and DSM 5.0 is a great improvement over previous versions of DSM. My only regret is, they don't include an HDMI port into the design of the NAS as does QNAP. If they did that, I can easily place my second backup NAS unit in the living room doing double duty both as a home media server directly connected to the TV and still also providing backup functionality to my primary NAS as well. In essence, by having such a HDMI-equipped NAS, it would preclude the need for iTunes, AppleTV, or even a directly connected MacMini / MBA altogether. Anyway, for now, that is not reality, so, I will go with status quo and place (replace) the MacMini in the living room. I am waiting eagerly to see what new products are in the pipeline for 2014 as Tim Cook often states in interviews, 2014 is supposed to be the 'big year' for great new product launches coming from Apple. We'll see. 2014 is almost 1/2 over. Anyway, all 'food for thought'. Will appreciate any thoughts any of you might have about this strategy.

@ForceFour:

1. That's the beauty of a NAS (Network Attached Storage) platform independent. Once it's on their it can be accessed from various OS.

2. Any OS X system that can run iTunes can act as a media server for your ATVs.

3. Mac Mini is a valid option don't get me wrong. If you happy to shell out $600 to have a system there as iTunes server running 24x7 go ahead. That's the best most expensive solution.

NOTE: Another thing on the Mac Mini setup to consider is user account. I have several iMacs as I have several users in my home. Each have their own iTunes library. As they are on different system they can stream from different system. If you server them all via ONE Mac Mini you'll have to setup different user account and log into each one and startup iTunes at least once per reboot to get this working.

4. Not sure what you are asking here but if you want to stream to ATV you need iTunes. If you want to stream to your PS3 or XBOX360 you can Synology DLNA server to that. You can setup a many folders/shares as you want on your NAS box to keep the content.

5. If you want that you just move your iPhoto library to a shared folder on the Synology box and then tell iPhoto to open the iPhoto library from there. You need to be on network so won't work for laptop off network. ATV get their photos also through iTunes to my understanding.

NOTE: I keep my iPhoto libraries of different users locally and just copy them back to Synology box from time to time to have a central repository. I can then serve them through the Synology DLNA servers. iPhoto does not work well with several libraries and get's easily corrupted.

Happy this discussion is still going on. It has proven quite informative and helpful to me personally and it seems like quite a few of us are on similar pages with what we are doing or would like to do. Great minds ... right?

iPerfection - your case fits mine very closely and along the way I have had many of the questions you have. You are a bit ahead of me in action and so I appreciate your feedback as somone who very closely mirrors my own situation.

Well - I'm pretty much ready to go now. The new iMacs have been announced, my current pc hard drives are running out of space and my HP MediaSmart server is also running out of space and getting long in the tooth to boot. Time to begin my transition. Based on the information I have been able to glean from research, much of it from this thread ... here is how I am planning it out. Please comment, shoot holes in it, tell me I'm on the right track, or just provide friendly advice, pitfalls etc.

Step 1: Purchase the NAS. I am looking at the Synology DS1812+ running 3-4 WD Red 3TB drives to start. I may never need more than this but it's nice to know it's there if I do.

Step 2: Purchase an Airport Extreme and swap it in as a replacement for my aging D-Link router.

Step 3: Purchase one switch capable of taking advantage of the link aggregation feature of the DS1812+. I would be swapping these in for a current, active D-Link 8-port switch that does not have this capability sitting on top of my router at present. If anyone has an idea on a good switch for the job ... I'm all ears.

Note: I have had my house wired throughout with Cat-6 and a couple other D-Link 8-port switches in other rooms and I intend to take advantage of wired vs wireless wherever possible.

Step 4: DS1812+ connected to the Airport Extreme. move my iTunes, photo, home video and document libraries to the NAS. The iTunes application will still run on the pc until that 'Coming Soon' banner on the Apple Store is replaced by an actual 'Buy' button.

Step 5: Purchase iMacs (2) and put them in place. Once this has been done I will be transitioning anything of remaining value not already on the NAS from my PC to it (bookmarks?).

Step 6: point the iTunes instances on the iMacs to the iTunes library on the NAS.

Step 7: point the iPhoto instances on the iMacs to the photo libaries on the NAS.

I'm thinking this covers me for the primary transition and that I should be able to stream all iTunes audio and video to the AppleTVs with via an instance of iTunes running on an iMac. From here I would look at the following additional considerations / questions:

- how can I incorporate Plex? The more I read about it Plex, the I like what it offers. Downside appears to be that it is not AppleTV friendly. I really like the AppleTV front end and I really would rather not access my media nor streaming services via PS3 or X-Box (due in part to the for the less than slick user interface you mentioned as well as that I would rather not have to switch sources based on which media I will be wathcing?. AppleTV does provide access to Netflix, Hulu and YouTube but does not provide access to the Amazon Instant nor many others. Too bad. If AppleTV had the source coverage of a Roku and the ability to stream different video formats it might just be the perfect streaming device. As it does not, I believe Plex may provide that access with the ability to AirPlay it to my television via the AppleTV.

- Backup options. I intend on taking advantage of Time Machine for the iMacs. Really looking hard at using Synology's own SHR. It looks like a good option that will an appropriate level of protection. I assume that my shared media folders will become part of this but

- do I want to record tv? What would be my source? I have DirecTV now and I am quite happy with it. No intention on dropping it and so I'm not sure that I would need this but I love options.

- big question for me here. How would I create a process for offloading photos and videos taken on iPhones and iPads to Diskstation? I would want to create an appropriate process for doing this as well as for grabbing photos and videos from the Diskstation from those devices when needed. Can this NAS work with iCloud and / or PhotoStream in any way?

- Surveillance. I plan to add some cameras and would generally just want to figure out how this works. Looks like the Diskstation has a nice option where this is concerned.

iPerfection: maybe I misunderstood but in #3 you seemed to indicate that you had multiple instances of your iTunes library on your NAS. Is this the case? I am referring specifically to this portion

'I also point a iTunes instance running on a mac mini at the same shares but I don't pull the data into the iTunes library. This gives you the full iTunes capability of streaming to other apple devices, syncing iPads etc. I have also moved the iTunes library (the actual database, album art, playlists etc) to another shared on the synology called iTunes funny enough.'

Thanks all. Let's keep this one alive if possible.

Tpx: from my research (and it's only research at this point) you should have no problem housing your iTunes library on your NAS and running it from your iTunes application on your Mac. I believe the answer is the same for your photo libary. Pix can sit on the NAS, application sits on your Mac.

andrew.in.Boston -

I've run both of these setups; as mentioned previously, I have a Drobo 4-bay unit attached via USB to a headless Mac Mini serving several iTunes installations and a couple of Apple TV units. I have not attempted to serve movies off the Synology unit yet, mainly because XBMC on the ATV is so user-unfriendly that I can't figure out how to add a new file path to the movies app. At this point I'm ready to uninstall and re-install and start over.

My impressions otherwise: The Mini/Drobo combo has worked admirably for years now, although it does have its quirks - and, as mentioned, it supports the "Apple-centric" design methodology whereby everything runs through iTunes. Which I hate. Every time the power blips on and off, either iTunes on the Mini forgets that it recognizes the AppleTV (requiring a restart of both iTunes and the ATV), or the ATV loses track of its iTunes host (requiring deleting and re-configuring the iTunes host setup). This happens on an almost weekly basis. The speed is okay; there's a lag while the Drobo spins up the drives and serves up whatever iTunes is asking for, but I'm not sure how you'd avoid that while still employing any kind of energy management setup.

We also use iTunes Match for music streaming to our various iDevices. That works okay most of the time; when it doesn't work, I almost invariably find that it's my phone (or my wife's) that is malfunctioning - NOT the iTunes Match service. That having been said, iTunes Match won't work with the kids' new Nexus tablets, so I'm investigating alternatives.

Which brings me to the Synology. I really like this thing. Easy setup, nice user interface, most stuff just "works." I can stream the music library to both iOS and Android devices, and the lag is not any worse than with iTunes Match so far. The thing also offers streaming video, which I can access but so far have not been able to actually make work. I suspect it's something to do with file size and encoding rates, but frankly I don't have much need to stream video over 4G so I haven't messed with it. What I need to do now is get my XBMC installation configured to recognize the Synology and try streaming via the hardwired connection. If I can make that work acceptibly, then I may have found the replacement solution for my always-on Mac Mini/Drobo combination.

I am curious as to the cost of your setup, roughly, TamThread. If you can include the cost to wire Cat6 that would be helpful too.

My cost has not included Cat6 wiring and rather just getting a DIR655 wireless router and placing the devices within 200 feet of the 801.11n router.

I have a DS111 behind the couch running Plex Server (no transcoding necessary for most of my files which are MP4 or MOV). I have 2 AppleTVs with the Plex Client running on 2 separate TVs. a 1TB hard drive was installed in my DS111.

All in I think I spend $700 for the setup including a $30 antenna for HD signals on one TV and a $100 antenna on another TV. One of these days I will upgrade my DS to record HD channels off a much better installed antenna, but for now this is running just about as great as I want.

The best thing is that my kids watch a select number of shows and movies, not just channel surf. Ever.

It seems like the ideal multifunction setup. And the one time cost and recurring Internet cost seems like the ideal way to consume media. We buy iTunes movies everyonce in a while, but never TV shows.

I just came across this as I was doing a search for all things to work gracefully between Synology and iTunes, and before I continued buying any further equipment. I might as well share my situation and current setup.

Current setup...

DS1513+ hooked up to my network.

All my media is in the respective folders (music/photo/video) to take advantage of the DS apps.

Music

My iTunes Library (the actual library files) and all the mp3s are stored on the NAS.

Windows 7 Laptop - iTunes Library points to the NAS

Macbook Pro - iTunes Library points to the NAS.

* I can only run 1 instance of iTunes at a time, or else the Library will get messed up. So, I always make sure that whatever laptop I am on, the other one has iTunes closed. This allows me that no matter which computer I am on, whenever I add music, it is available and organized on the NAS through iTunes.

** I found that through this setup of iTunes, when opening and re-opening iTunes, the Library updates (about a 1-2 minute lag) and I have 120 GB of media just through iTunes (music, apps, iTunes movies)

*** This setup also allows me to backup my phone to any device (Windows or Mac) that has iTunes running, since everything is on the NAS.

Video

This contains all my home videos, backups, etc. broken up into folders by category and format.

* I watch everything through VLC from my Windows laptop or Macbook Pro.

** iPad and iPhone use Video Station

*** Samsung TV uses DLNA

Photo

All of my photos are stored according to my OCD formatting (YYYY) and then within each year folder (YYYY-MM-DD) Event Name.

All of the photos are on the NAS

Windows 7 Laptop - has Lightroom 5 installed and that manages, tags, and takes care of all my photos

* I have not come across a way to share the Lightroom 5 Library across both devices.

Future
I have been debating of the following, but I am not sure if they are necessary or will help out in anything. Please feel free to comment and offer suggestions.

- Would a mac mini help in my setup in any shape ? Is it worth it?

- Would getting an Apple TV help in this setup ? (This won't doesn't matter, I might just get so that I can use Netflix, Hulu, etc) instead of always opening up the PS3 or connecting my laptop via HDMI.

Wow a thread after my own heart

I’ve recently had a NAS breakdown, the partition on a WD Mybook got corrupted, and with the pain of having to recover the data on the disc I’ve had a sit down to figure out how best to sort things out going forward.

I,like yourself , have a CAT system in the house to a single point which helps only if your needing low latency apps interfacing with NAS or your broadband connection.

I have a linksys DSL modem plugged into an Airport Extreme where i connect my NAS. I have 2 ipads, 2 iphones , Mac mini, Mac pro 2006, old G4 (Wireless) as a hub and a G4 laptop which i use to digitise my vinyl all connected. The network setup works ok and sharing is ok but the problem I have always had it that with multiple Macs accessing the same library the opportunity for file changing or just information getting out of sync is a major problem.

I have an added complexity whereby I use the laptop for real time streaming media which causes huge issues for the software I am running http://serato.com/scratchlive which I use to digitise my vinyl. It basically records the vinyl I have and records it directly to the NAS.

So post meltdown where I was using WD Mybook World NAS 2TB config, ive decided to move away from that and design it all around a Synology Air 2bay drive solution with an additional back up disc.

I have not yet set it all up but i am looking for sync with ipads, iphone direct with the nas media server with the rest using the NAS as a central library for itunes and scratch live.

The problem I always hit though is the itune library synching, if i purchase from one machine it does not update the libraries of the others even though they are authorised. Yes machine authorisation does do it to a certain extent but if I’m changing names on files on different machines I would like it to update to all machines or have them synch changes of the central media server. I have not been able to find a solution.

They are really 3 different devices... but a beautiful combo! I'd suggest to skip the Mini, in case you already own several Macs. Otherwise you could use the Mini as an expensive and upgradable Media Server (I'd like to ;-) ) using XBMC or Plex in order to have a nice view of you Movie and Tv Show, connecting it via HDMI to the TV (+ ethernet or wifi). For this purpose I'm using a "pimped" ATV, needing no more space...

What about the NAS? I'm just a newbie, learning the best way to use it. For what I know, it's really really useful, big storage, expandability (buy at least the 4 bays) and longevity. If you are using (as I do) iPhoto or Aperture, it's not so useful (just a back up) to manage your photos librairies.

Hope this helps.

@Forcefour your steps seem to be all in order. Depending on your personal preferences some of those might change as you go through the implementation but I don't see anything wrong with it in general.

Regarding the switch I have successfully used Cisco SG200-8 and Netgear GS108T 8-port switches.

The question is do you really need it? While link aggregation allows you to bond the two LAN ports on your DS1812+ giving you a theoretical 2Gbit link you need to understand how this works.

The 2Gbit is the maximum throughput but any one data stream still needs to go through one LAN port. So the maximum for 1 connection is still 1Gbig. Only if you have more devices is the additional bandwidth useful.

To give you an idea on my current switch in link aggregation I can see that 170 million packets have passed through LAN port 1 and only 609 thousand packets through LAN port 2. So that's less than 1% of the time where the single LAN port 1Gbit link wasn't enough.

I love this thread. I have been struggling with this for a couple of years now, and I'm fed up with the whole setup. The problem seems to me to be iTunes. iTunes seems to be a common element in each of these posts and I would nominate it as the choke point for a true home-media server setup.

I currently have a massive media collection (2,000+ movies, 10,000+ songs, 10,000+ digital photos) on a Drobo unit attached to an older, headless Mac Mini. The only thing the Mini is used for is serving the 1st-gen AppleTV unit in the media room. We use iTunes Match to access music on-the-go from a handful of iPhones and iPads.

I don't like having to run the Mini 24/7, and I don't like having to run iTunes to access my media. I have tried other media player solutions:

• Plex and XBMX installed on AppleTV. The interface looks great, but in actual usage, this leaves a lot to be desired. My ATV is on a wired network, so I don't think throughput is my problem. Also, Plex and XBMC seem to crash/freeze up on a regular basis.
• WDTV unit instead of AppleTV. User interface stinks. Files required to be in a different format than what I currently have (although I think this might've changed since I last tried this option).
• DunePlayer HD instead of AppleTV. This seemed like a relatively high-end solution to the problem. Getting it to work was a PITA, and in the end it mainly looked like browsing folders against a red-velvet curtain background. Not ideal.

The holy grail, for me, would be to store my movie, music, and photo collections on an NAS like the Synology, and be able to access them all from any device without running a specific piece of software (I'm looking at you, iTunes). My wife and kids are used to the elegant simplicity of the AppleTV interface, although its reliabity is likely no better than any of the other solutions above (every time the power goes out, either the AppleTV loses track of its iTunes library, or the Mac Mini forgets that it knows the AppleTV trying to gain access to it, and I have to restart everything and re-introduce them all). Having to browse through any kind of folder structure is a deal-breaker. (A file structure is okay, like AppleTV's categories, but I don't ever want to see a folder icon.)

Why can't AppleTV be instructed to simply use a folder of movies? Why is iTunes necessary at all? All it does is muck up the works. But until I can find a decent alternative, I'm stuck using it.

What OS X version are you running? I have seen problems with 10.8 that the connection to the Synology is going bad if the system that mounts it goes into standby. This happened to me only on 10.8. Previous version no problem to resume after standby but on 10.8 it get's messed up.