Can I manage an externally stored iTunes library with an iPad?

Hi all,
To give a better idea of my situation, here's a bit of information about the problem I have.
I currently have two Windows 7 machines, a laptop that's seen better days and a desktop which I am looking to get rid of because of space. I have an iPod Touch 32GB and will soon be getting an iPhone 4/5 (depending on release date) also.
My iTunes is currently stored and managed on my desktop PC. I have a fairly large music library, consisting of about 20-25gb of music. I only have one or two songs that were purchased through iTunes, all of the others have been imported from CD's.
As mentioned above, I am looking to get rid of my PC and my laptop doesn't have a large enough hard drive to manage my music as well as an OS and programs. I am very interested in buying a 16GB WiFi only iPad 2, as almost all of what I require a computer for is browsing the web, banking and the odd spreadsheet/document. The iPad would be a golden solution for me if I was able to manage my music with it.
Does anybody know if there is a way for me to store my music library on an external hard drive (or last resort, a file server) and run iTunes directly off the iPad, so I would connect my iPod/iPhone to the iPad with the external hard drive attached and syncing would be possible?
I hope I have explained my situation well enough, and thank you in advance for any assistance I receive. You help is greatly appreciated!
Regards

lkrupp,
thank s for filling in the details on iCloud, missed the fact the song needs to already be in the iTunes library first.
As for itunes on the home network, I was reffering to his desktop/Laptop PCs not the iPad but I neglected to state it. with Current iOS he will need a tethered computer to sync his I tunes. are you aware if iOS5 will allow external connections to data storage (I think I remember someting about that in one of the previews I read) since the new iOS wants to be teather free and "lose the wire" similar to dropbox type technology.
its all still so new.
lkrupplkrupp

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