Apple Home Enviroment Expanding - Need advice

[Jolley69]

Well first Im new to the apple forum so some back ground.

Im basically a Windows user due to old days, the programs I use and the environment Im in are all windows based.

Over the last couple of years my apple hardware collection has grown, to a point my household now has.

2* Ipod touch
Ipad
Apple TV - Normally use this to play music to my stereo/TV during parties controlled by my Ipad.

And have now I got a great present a B&W Air Zeppelin.

Currently I have Itunes working on my PC with the library on a BlackArmor® NAS 220, originally I had hoped this an Itune server which I could access directly but in fact learning the hard way it is only a Itune library.

What I would like to do is somehow connect my apple hardwares to my HD without my PC running.

Points to learn;

1.) Can Ipod touch access an external source library?
2.) Air Zeppelin access my HD library via Ipad/Ipod
3.) Apple TV access my HD with out PC

I have been reading a bit about people using an old I-Mini, but not sure how that works, can you access the Imin via the Ipad or do you need a apple keyboard, mouse and monitor? Are they really that good just to leave running day after day?

Think that is not a bad start. Thanks in advance for the help.

 

[adbe]

1.) Can Ipod touch access an external source library?
2.) Air Zeppelin access my HD library via Ipad/Ipod
3.) Apple TV access my HD with out PC

1) An iDevice can access media from local storage, a local iTunes server, or iTunes Match. They can't, without jail-breaking, access media from external drives or other such setups.

2) If I'm understanding the question correctly, yes.

3) See the answer to #1.

I have been reading a bit about people using an old I-Mini, but not sure how that works, can you access the Imin via the Ipad or do you need a apple keyboard, mouse and monitor? Are they really that good just to leave running day after day?

What are you concerned about? Reliability? Power draw? Neither should be a problem. Minis are generally reliable workhorses, and their power draw is low. Also if the mini is connected to your router by an ethernet cable, you can just set it to wake on demand which means it's only drawing power when it's needed.

 

[clarkie604]

I'm afraid you are not going to find a good solution for playing media on iOS devices from an NAS. There are some solutions out there (such as XBMC) but they generally require you to jailbreak all your iOS devises.

Note that the Mini you mentioned is a full-fledged computer - and the option there is to buy the Mini, load up iTunes and leave it on all the time. You will need a mouse/keyboard/screen. But there is no reason you need a Mini instead of any other PC with reasonable specs. In fact, you can probably find a PC with similar specs for considerably cheaper than a Mini. Cost isn't the only thing to consider, but if all you're going to use the computer for is to run iTunes, a bare-bones PC will work.

 

[Panch0]

I'm not familiar with the BlackArmor NAS, but:
There are apps that act as DLNA receivers. Many NAS devices act as DLNA/UPNP servers. Using such an app (an example is MediaConnect), you can access the media on your NAS from your iPod/iPad, but not directly from aTV. You can then use AirPlay yo stream from iPod/iPad to AppleTV. I'm not sure how the Zepplin works, but either by direct connecting the iDevice, or by AirPlay, you should be able to send audio to it from the DLNA playing app.

I have a Synology NAS, and they provide free apps to access content stored not he device, in addition to supporting other players like MediaConnect.

Using the DLNA Server feature of the NAS requires content to be stored in specific locations on the NAS, so you might have to do some work to organize your library.

DLNA is NOT going to work for any DRMed files (like movies purchased through iTunes). Non DRM music form the iTunes Store (iTunes+) should work fine.

 

[slothrob]

I think you are looking for a solution that you already have.

Leave your PC on, set to standby to power down the monitor and spin down the hard drive, with iTunes open.

 

[Jolley69]

Well Christmas break is here soon so will have some time to play with the idea and see what I can work out.

Thanks for the advice.