Mac music Server?
We have 3 computers in our house and each has a separate music collection on iTunes. Each user adds new music and we'd like a way to sync it all up so all the music collections of each computer are the same all the time.
We could use one computer which has the music and we just listen to it via shared music, but we can't sync it on our iPod, nor download it, so this isn't an option.
We have a 500 GB Firewire external drive if we needed to use that.
We also have 2 itunes collections on one account because it has two user accounts, which doubles the space taken up by music, so this is something we really need to eliminate space.
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M$5 Answers
I tried various more or less sophisticated solutions which all worked. However, keeping them running required too much time for configuration, syncing and there were problems if one of the notebooks was absent, in sleep mode or logged in with a different user.
Being tired of that hassle, I found a much easier and more convenient solution:
I hooked up an NAS (network attached storage) to my home network, big enough to hold all iTunes libraries and Podcasts. Some NAS (e.g. the ones made by LaCie) actually have basic Linux-based PCs running a media server built in. From outside, they may look just like an external hard drive but apart form the hard drive, they have a small computer running a fileserver and webserver application under the hood. The ones made by LaCie (I don't know about others, but I guess it applies to most NAS for home use) are usually configured in a way that they will automatically and periodically scan their hard drive for media contents (.mp3, movies, pictures,...). As soon as you copy some music to the NAS, the music will appear in your iTunes as a new library.
This has the enormous advantage that by simply copying your iTunes libraries to the NAS, you not only have an additional backup, you also let the NAS do all the work automatically: scan all libraries, index them and serve them as one big music library to all iTunes clients (and WiFi-Radios etc.) running in your network. And the iTunes library and playlists in each of your computers stays unchanged and untouched.
By using AppleScript, by configuring your backup program accordingly or by using ChronoSync (or a similar product) you could schedule your backups and make sure that you don't copy too much to the NAS. (I have actually automated the process of syncing my libraries to the NAS in a way to avoid duplicates and in order to delete old podcasts which are already auto-deleted on the workstations).
It's really convenient. The only thing you have to keep in mind in the beginning: the NAS usually scans its contents only once an hour or once a day (depending on its settings). There may be some delay until new music is available to all computers.
Some of them even run servers that even can be accessed from outside the LAN over the internet. The newer LaCie NAS have AXENTRA HipServ pre-installed and can be configured with a web browser. The older models run a proprietary iTunes-compatible media server. But this applies to all models: you may adapt the servers to your needs by tweaking and twisting and configuring and doing other geeky stuff, but they already run quite perfectly plugged in out of the box without any configuration.
There are many manufacturers of network attached storage. For this particular purpose, you want to make sure that they have a built-in iTunes-compatible media server and that you don't have to install additional client software.
Pictures of the LaCie Mini Ethernet Disk, the LaCie Network Space and the LaCie Internet Space which all have self-scanning iTunes servers built-in:
LaCie Network Attached Storage drives:
http://www.lacie.com/products/range.htm?id=10007
AXENTRA HipServ media server:
http://www.axentra.com/en/products/hipserv
ChronoSync:
http://www.econtechnologies.com/site/Pages/ChronoSync/chrono_overview.html
List of NAS manufacturers:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_NAS_manufacturers
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M$
http://www.acertant.com/web/tuneranger/
I hope this helps!
-Ben Fryxell
MacMania Networks
http://macmaniapodcast.com
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M$
This will work, but not perfectly as I described. I'd like to have ONE iTunes library in the house3 libraries in the house, so we don't use up 40 gig of space on each computer.
There's a huge community of iTunes users who are probably facing this problem so there must be some other solutions for this problem.
But thanks.
Any other tools that function the same way as Ben recommended or closer to what I'm looking for?
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M$
Another problem is going to be that the three machines are going to fight over the configuration files for the library. I have no clue if it is going to store the config file locally and see the drive as storage, or if it will try to take control over the drive itself.
You can leave an optional "tip" with Mahalo's virtual currency, Mahalo Dollars. If you are asking a difficult question that might require some research, or if you'd like a wide variety of feedback, a higher tip often leads to more answers to your question.
M$
You can leave an optional "tip" with Mahalo's virtual currency, Mahalo Dollars. If you are asking a difficult question that might require some research, or if you'd like a wide variety of feedback, a higher tip often leads to more answers to your question.
M$
