NAS for TM/CCC Backups and Streaming to AppleTV

[mstgkillr]

I currently have CenturyLink (Quantum Fiber) with their Wi-Fi 360 (Plume) mesh router. I also have a eero Pro 6 mesh router and a lifetime membership with Plex that I haven't used.

I am looking to improve my backup strategy and add a few features and thinking of adding a NAS for the following:

1. Automatic Time Machine and CCC backups, as iCloud and manual CCC is my only backup
2. Storage for my iTunes Movies and TV Shows that I can stream to my AppleTVs in the event of an internet failure. No internet for weeks was terrible during Hurricane Ian. I believe I have around 700 movies on iTunes.

Is this feasible with a NAS? Any suggestions on equipment, software, etc?

 

[hobowankenobi]

Yes, all possible. Synology is typically top of the list for all these needs.

Be aware that TM over networks can be a bit fiddly, or at least it has been in the past. But you can still use lots of tools too beyond TM, or with TM.

Synology has a built-in backup and sync tool...Drive, which is pretty good. Not quite as spiffy as TM, but free and included, and more features and options.

You can also mount a shared folder and use CCC too, with the small challenge of making sure the shared folder is mounted. If CCC has a feature to automate mounting shares, you are set.

I would recommend you not get the base model Synology boxes...as they are underpowered (hence the low price). Shoot for at least the Value series, but preferably the Plus series, like the DS220+ or better.

 

[hobowankenobi]

Oh, and lots of Synology threads around here, if you want to read a bit more, like here and here.

 

[mstgkillr]

Oh, and lots of Synology threads around here, if you want to read a bit more, like here and here.

Thanks, but they unless I missed it, those threads didn't help much. I spent several hours researching prior to my post as well, and several hours since. I've learned more, but probably just more confused.

Back to the goals:

1. Automatic Time Machine and CCC backups, as iCloud and manual CCC is my only backup. I have this figured out... I think.
2. Storage for my iTunes Movies and TV Shows that I can stream to my AppleTVs in the event of an internet failure. No internet for weeks was terrible during Hurricane Ian. I believe I have around 700 movies on iTunes.

Goal 2 appears more complicated and I am not sure if it is something that can be done with NAS alone. It appears that iTunes movies have DRM and cannot just be moved to NAS and streamed via Plex to my AppleTVs. Even if I moved the location of the iTunes library, I would still need a computer on the same network to stream to the AppleTVs. I read some talk of removing DRM though, but I'm not sure if that's the best route.

 

[hobowankenobi]

For #2, there are at least a few ways. Synology has their own app, plus a few more. Info here.

I used the Infuse app (free version) for years on ATV to watch stored movies on a networked drive...worked well.

 

[mstgkillr]

For #2, there are at least a few ways. Synology has their own app, plus a few more. Info here.

I used the Infuse app (free version) for years on ATV to watch stored movies on a networked drive...worked well.

Do you still use the Infuse app... Why? Why not?

After more research and reading your links (thank you), Infuse seems like the way to go. It appears I just move my iTunes library to my Synology NAS and point Infuse to it?

I am looking at the DS423+, if transcoding is required. Is it required with Infuse and iTunes? I am also looking at the DS923+, but mostly the DS1522+.

Thanks again for your help!

 

[hobowankenobi]

Still using it, no issues really. It used to need to rebuild an index every so often for the search to work. Minor gripe on the free version, no idea if paid was better in that regard.

I am using it with a Windows box, not a Synology (long story), but it is a mounted SMB share, so no real difference for InFuse. On the Win box, it was just a shared folder...so yeah, I would expect a copy of the content would be all you need. Hopefully, others can speak to specifically using a Synology as the host.

I can't answer the transcoding question directly. Don't want to lead you astray. I see it is only required for older devices that can't manage it, so I don't think this would be an issue on an ATV or any modern TV.

4 bays are typically enough for home use, especially with the size of modern HDs...8TB might be the sweet spot for value.

 

[mstgkillr]

Still using it, no issues really. It used to need to rebuild an index every so often for the search to work. Minor gripe on the free version, no idea if paid was better in that regard.

I am using it with a Windows box, not a Synology (long story), but it is a mounted SMB share, so no real difference for InFuse. On the Win box, it was just a shared folder...so yeah, I would expect a copy of the content would be all you need. Hopefully, others can speak to specifically using a Synology as the host.

I can't answer the transcoding question directly. Don't want to lead you astray. I see it is only required for older devices that can't manage it, so I don't think this would be an issue on an ATV or any modern TV.

4 bays are typically enough for home use, especially with the size of modern HDs...8TB might be the sweet spot for value.

I tried moving just the iTunes movies to the NAS, but Infuse will not play them. Do I need to move my iTunes library folder there too?

 

[rayward]

I have a QNAP (rack mounted) NAS and it works perfectly for my TM backups.

A word of caution: it's not a good idea to have your movies and your TM backups on the same drive. If it fails you lose both the original and the backup of your media, so it's all gone. I have my media on an external SSD connected directly to my Mac, and then back it all up to the NAS.

The QNAP allows you to create "storage pools" so, with four HDDs, you could use one for your media and the other three for backups. This way you would be insulated against HDD failure, but not from theft or catastrophic physical damage that takes out the whole NAS.

 

[Boyd01]

AFAIK, you need a Mac with media sharing enabled to stream iTunes movie purchases to the AppleTV. I use a lowly base model 2014 Mini dual core i5 1.4ghz with 4gb RAM, booting from an external 256gb ssd (easy to add an internal SSD on the 2014 Mini if you prefer). All of my media is on a 4tb external USB SSD and I have a 5tb USB hard disk connected for automatic nightly Carbon Copy clones. Have used three different Mini models over the years for this and it's always worked very well. You can get used 2014 Mini's really cheaply these days, OWC (MacSales) sells them with a warranty for less than $150 last time I checked. Would be even cheaper from a private seller (but no warranty).

Now the part about wanting to stream these movies during an internet outage gets more complicated. In the past, this setup would break with no internet connection. I believe the Mac needs to "phone home" to make sure you are authorized to play movies from your library. This was a real problem for me before, even my own media that I ripped from DVD's wouldn't play without an internet connection.

That was a number of years ago however, I got FIOS (Verizon Fiber) internet in 2017 and it has been really robust, so not much experience with outages. But when I did have the issue, one work-around was to use Airplay which worked (for some reason).