Looking for NAS to use as iTunes Media Server

[vtolani]

Alright, here is my setup today:

I have a PC, which is effectively a glorified iTunes Media Server. The only time I use it is when I want to purchase music from the iTunes Store. From there, I sync up my Apple TV and iPod.

I am getting a MacBook Pro from work, but don't want to clog it up with all my media files.

Here is what I would like to do:
Backup both my PC and MacBook Pro to the Time Capsule via the Wireless Network.
Connect a Printer to the Time Capsule so I can print from either the PC or MacBook over the Wireless Network.
Use iTunes on the MacBook to Purchase Music and Sync iPod and Apple TV with the media stored on the Time Capsule.

The Time Capsule has potential. Will it allow me to accomplish all of this? What about the AirPort Extreme and a USB Hard Drive?

Alternatively, can I use the Apple TV for Media Storage and use iTunes on my MacBook?

Sorry for all the questions, but I've been looking for the ideal solution and I keep running into snags. I imagine I'm not the only one out there looking to accomplish this

Thanks in advance everyone.

 

[keeper]

Hi

A few points to note here:-
Time machine will back up to the time capsule until it is full leaving no space for your media.

Time capsules can fail after 18 months, losing all your back ups and any media that was on it, have a search on the forum.

This happened to mine. I've now dropped my time capsule.

My new setup is a QNAP 219P NAS, this has 2 1.5Tb drives installed in raid 1 to provide some disk fail safety, you can also use it for time machine and specify how much space it can use.
I have 500G for time machine and 1Tb for media, all backed up to an external USB drive, plus its backing up online to Crashplan.
I also plan to use crashplan on my sons laptop to back up to the NAS and cloud.

Over the top? may be, but its fast and who wants to loose all that media when its took hours to rip and pounds to buy.

Cheers Phil

 

[vtolani]

Thanks Phil.

I didn't realize Time Machine would take up the whole drive. I figured I would have plenty of space with a 1 TB Time Capsule backing up a 320 GB HDD in my MacBook.

I supposed I can use an online backup solution to get around that.

I've heard similar horror stories about the Time Bomb This is part of the reason I am leaning towards an Airport Extreme or Linksys Router with a USB Hard Drive.

I completely agree about backup paranoia BTW. I had a scare earlier this week when my PC failed to boot. Backing up to Mozy as we speak I think it's safe to say you won't hear any criticism from me on the triple redundancy front.

- Vijay

 

[Maks]

IMO the Time Capsule is an overpriced piece of junk. A backup system with only a single hard drive doesn't make sense.

There are several threads on here of people wanting to accomplish the same thing, they're good reading and may give you some additional ideas. The peripherals section also has some good information on NAS setups.

 

[fpnc]

Just remember that you'll need a Mac or PC running iTunes to access any content that is stored on the remote drive. Thus, there is really no advantage to using a Time Capsule or Airport Extreme since you'll still need a Mac or PC to serve up the content. Therefore, you might just as well attach a drive directly to the Mac or PC and skip the other stuff.

As far as I know, there is no NAS or third-party media server that can be accessed directly by an Apple TV. You can have iTunes running on a Mac/PC and stream the data from an iTunes compatible media server but the Apple TV alone can't access any type of NAS or media server without the help of said Mac/PC.

 

[OllyW]

As far as I know, there is no NAS or third-party media server that can be accessed directly by an Apple TV. You can have iTunes running on a Mac/PC and stream the data from an iTunes compatible media server but the Apple TV alone can't access any type of NAS or media server without the help of said Mac/PC.

You can get direct access to a NAS if you hack the Apple TV, I'm using nitoTV to access the ripped DVDs on my NAS.

 

[fpnc]

You can get direct access to a NAS if you hack the Apple TV, I'm using nitoTV to access the ripped DVDs on my NAS.

But will that allow you to access protected content (movies/TV shows) from the iTunes Store (that is, such content that would be stored on the NAS)? I suspect that it will not and quite frankly software hacks to the Apple TV are just too awkward and unreliable (IMO). If all you want is to play your DVD rips and unprotected music then you'll be much better off with one of the third-party devices like the WD TV Live, etc.

 

[Hardcharger]

iTunes NAS problems

I'm looking for a little help with trouble storing music on a NAS drive. Here is my setup. MacPro, OS X 10.6.2, iTunes 9.1, Buffalo NAS running 2 1tb drives in a raid configuration. I have followed the steps to set iTunes storage to store on the NAS and when everything is done it works fine however after a while iTunes resets the storage location to the internal drives by itself. I have 2 user accounts on the Mac but I am the only one who even knows how to change the storage setup and this is happening in the other user account. The NAS is always powered on and seen on the network. The only thought I had is that the OS is doing this after downloading system updates, not iTunes updates. Any ideas?