ITunes on NAS with iTunes server

I would like to be able to store my iTunes library on a NAS so that I can access it from any computer in my house. I have been warned against storing any large libraries remotely. One thing I have seen is that some NASs have iTunes servers built in. Does anyone know how this would work and would it solve problems with large libraries on a remote drive?

You don't need the Itunes server for computers running iTunes. You just point iTunes to the library on the NAS using Shift + Start iTunes.
I have a large library and it works flawlessly. It takes awhile to load the cover art thumbnails when browsing on my slower computers. I have a wired gigabit network.

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How can I sync my iPod with a NAS's (QNAP 212) iTunes server?

I have a Qnap 212 nap with 3TB HDD.
I'm using Windows 7 and iTunes.
I set up the NAS's iTunes server, however I can not sync my iPod with it.
Is this possible somehow?

Syncing to a "New" Computer or replacing a "crashed" Hard Drive: Apple Support Communities

ITunes Server with D-Link DNS-323 NAS - not showing up in Shared list

Hi
I bought a DNS-323 to hold all my music. I am trying to get it working with iTunes.
I have enabled the iTunes Server function on the DNS-323, selecting which folder I want to use for music, and have allowed the device to 'refresh'. It then tells me it should appear in iTunes.
I have installed iTunes 10.2.1.1, but under Sharing, the only option that appears is Home Share. The DNS-323 does not appear in the list.
I have tried rebooting the NAS to no effect.
I've searched a lot on the subject and have seen that iTunes 10 causes issues with iTunes Server on a NAS device, but many people were saying that 10.1 fixes it. However, the threads then seem to go dead with no definitive answer.
Can anyone tell me where iTunes Server is still supported in 10.2.1.1, and if so if there are any suggestions on how to get the device to show up? ALL I get is the Home Sharing option under the Shared heading in iTunes. I tried iTunes 9.2.1 but had the same issue.
Thanks in advance
Dave

Hey Travis, mine only worked when I pointed to a folder with all music files: mp3, m4a... (all separated by artists folders)
After that, I could see my DNS 323 but I couldn't drag any songs to any playlists. I could also see some playlists on my DNS 323 but I couldn't modify them or add any.
I lost 3 days trying everithing but nothing worked. In the end, I clicked on the itunes "File" menu (Top left) and selected "Add folder to library" and I selected the folder with all my music. It must have taken 10 hours to import all the songs. It took me around 1:30 hours to rename over 300 songs (out of 1700) because they weren't properly named. They were all at the bottom of the list.
On my second computer, I cheated because I clicked on "Edit" in iTunes and selected "Preferences". On the "Advanced" tab, I changes the ITunes Media Folder Location and pointed to the one I created with the first computer. The music appeared (I didn't have to rename 300 songs again) and the playlists I had created were also there. This way, I only manage one computer and it should chage the other one.
I'm not sure what will happen when I add new songs but I had selected the music folder on the first computer so I hope they are added automatically. I think I might have to go back to the DNS 323 and do a refresh on the iTunes server to see new songs but I haven't tried it yet.
Hope it helps,

Itunes Server with D-Link NAS

Woohoo! I just figured out, after many hours of searching the Internet, why my D-Link 323 wasn't showing in ITunes as a Shared device.
Do not select "Root" in the itunes SERVER configuration page.
I had to point directly to my music folder "called MP3" in Volume_1 and it popped up right away.
(Volume_1/Shared Data/Music/MP3)
Maybe it didn't like the other type of file/extension in the other folders.
Hope it fixes your problems too and you didn't lose too much time.
Cheers,

Hey Travis, mine only worked when I pointed to a folder with all music files: mp3, m4a... (all separated by artists folders)
After that, I could see my DNS 323 but I couldn't drag any songs to any playlists. I could also see some playlists on my DNS 323 but I couldn't modify them or add any.
I lost 3 days trying everithing but nothing worked. In the end, I clicked on the itunes "File" menu (Top left) and selected "Add folder to library" and I selected the folder with all my music. It must have taken 10 hours to import all the songs. It took me around 1:30 hours to rename over 300 songs (out of 1700) because they weren't properly named. They were all at the bottom of the list.
On my second computer, I cheated because I clicked on "Edit" in iTunes and selected "Preferences". On the "Advanced" tab, I changes the ITunes Media Folder Location and pointed to the one I created with the first computer. The music appeared (I didn't have to rename 300 songs again) and the playlists I had created were also there. This way, I only manage one computer and it should chage the other one.
I'm not sure what will happen when I add new songs but I had selected the music folder on the first computer so I hope they are added automatically. I think I might have to go back to the DNS 323 and do a refresh on the iTunes server to see new songs but I haven't tried it yet.
Hope it helps,

ITunes Server and Nas Sharing with Devices

Does anyone know how to copy files from a Nas Share in itunes to devices (iphone/ipad)? I have managed to set up itunes server on a QNap Nas. The music files appear in itunes and play but I can't seem to manage my music directly from the share. I'm guessing the same will apply to video too?
Currently running latest versions of everything on macbook pro retina 15".
Help!!

Hmmm, I'd give it a try, easy enough to move the FW drives.

ITunes setup on a NAS with multiple windows users - how?

iTunes setup on a NAS with multiple windows users?
I am very confused on what is the best way to handle this setup for my friends family. Any help would be appreciated. Sorry in advance as I know this is a long winded post - I have a feeling this will help others faced with the same issues or questions.
CURRENT SETUP
I have three new Windows 7 machines networked (two desktops and one laptop) that have four users on each - as busy family with children who need the computers for homework, projects, games, etc... The goal of this setup is that any user can log onto any computer and have there documents available to them no matter computer was free to use. I set this up using the library function in Windows 7 and seems to work pretty well.
I have put a Buffalo Linkstation NAS on the system as well. This was going to serve two purposes 1) run some backup software to protect the computers and 2) consolidate the iTunes content in one place for all users. There is also an iPad in the home that I should would be better served by accessing the content on the NAS without requiring any of the computers being on. Dave is thinking about getting some other playback devices like Apple TV so thought a NAS would be a good way to go.
CURRENT ITUNES SETUP - I have created a new iTunes library on the NAS by holding the SHIFT button down while starting iTunes and pointed to that folder on a Share on the NAS. There was no music on the system at the time as we are planning to copy this over from an OLD machine that is now not being used. I have also authorized all the computers and turned on the home sharing feature (although I am not sure what good that does).
This “shift” button trick seesm to also point the default directory there without point to it in the advanced setup tab of iTunes.
I then synced one of the iPods with purchased content on it and synced that to the library after asking me to do so before an update. All the content showed up in the library and was playable - awesome.
I then logged into each user on each machine (yikes) and installed iTunes and used the “shift” trick to connect each users iTunes to the database on the NAS. Everything seems to work - but I have not tested it thoroughly.
SUMMARY
3 new Windwos 7 networked machines
4 identical users on each machine
1 TB Buffalo linkstation
iTunes setup with the folder on a SHARE
all user’s itunes connected to the iTunes folder on the NAS
all computers authorized with home sharing turned on.
one iTunes user account signed in on each machine
multiple iPods and one iPad in the system
QUESTIONS/CONCERNS
Is there a better way to do this on a NAS?
Would home sharing be better in some way?
I understand the NAS should show up under the shared section in iTunes - I assume that would mean that would mean each user has an iTunes library on their documents?
I have read that there may be corruption issues if users on the different machines try to access iTunes at the same time.
Will there be any issues syncing that various iPods with?
Ugh - sorry for the long post and all the questions. I am just trying to find the best way to do this. I wish Apple would put out a best practices document for setups like this. Thanks in advance.

This is a user to user support forum. Your fellow users can offer solutions or workarounds based on their experience with the application. If you think it should work differently drop a line to iTunes Feedback.
For reasons unknown Apple haven't chosen to allow iTunes to be suspended in one profile and active in another. My recollection is that this applies even if each profile has a different library, although it is some time since I've committed a personal test.
I'm not sure why my suggestion make less sense that your current approach?. As I understand it currently everybody is either signed into their own account when they can do something other than work with iTunes, or they sign into the special iTunes account where they can't access any of their other stuff. You don't have to disable fast user switching. Follow exactly the same steps, but make sure everyone closes iTunes before turning the computer over to another user. Disabling fast user switching helps to enforce that action.
tt2

How do i use itunes server with itunes match?

Hi all,
I am using itunes server on my synology NAS. On my desktop i've always used itunes with match. How can I combine the two? In other words, how can i use itunes match with itunes server?
thanx

I don't know if you've already solved it yourself, but I had this problem too. Try signing out of iTunes Store under 'Settings', then signing back in with JUST your iTunes user name, with no '.mac' or '.me' suffix. If, for example, your usual sign-in method is '[email protected]' try using 'joebloggs'.
Worked for me.

Using an "iTunes Server" on a NAS drive for several users

Like many others I'm trying to make a single drive containing my iTunes media serve different iTunes users round the house.
Will the following work? Comments welcomed.
Currently my iTunes Media Folder and media live on my main PC. About 130Gb in total.
I'd like to get a NAS drive that has "iTunes Server" functionality and put this NAS drive on our home network. Then I'd like to move my iTunes media folder location into the 'iTunes Server' folder on the NAS drive. I'd also like to transfer all the data files associated with iTunes to the NAS drive. I believe with iTunes 10 that shouldn't be a problem and that I can contunue to use iTunes on my main PC as I ever did....it's just the media and data files will now all reside on the networked NAS.
Now I'd like to point all the iTunes on the other PCs in the house to the networked iTunes Media folder and the networked data files. Then presumably they will boot up and be able to access everything just like my main PC.
I understand that if more than one PC tries to edit the data files and iTunes media folder then corruption will inevitably result. I wondered if this could be prevented by using access rights management to all the networked iTunes files so that only my main PC can actually edit anything, add music, etc.
That way I hoped that I may manage the library successfully, create playlists as required and have all the other PC users enjoy my work but without screwing it up!
Maybe an iTunes data file can't be read by two instances of iTunes at the same time? Perhaps a second PC reading the data files can cause a corruption, if my main PC happens to be editing those files at the same time?
In essence I want all iTunes related files on the NAS drive. I want all PCs(with iTunes) in the house to have full read-only access to the music, playlists etc. However I would like my main PC to remain as the sole machine that administers the iTunes library and related files.
Looking forward to any help. Like others I've spent many hours trying to ascertain the best way to share a single iTunes media store around the house.
I know I could leave my main PC on and have the other PCs get at the content that way. However the power consumption of my desktop setup is not insignifcant and we will have a NAS drive running 24/7 anyway for other duties.
Hope that all makes sense.
Cheers
Geoff

I now realise that if what I propose will work then "iTunes server" is not required on the NAS. However if the iTunes Media Folder was placed in the "iTunes Server" on the NAS then other media players like the ROKU could access the files?
Geoff

I want to store my music files on a NAS (which has an iTunes server built in), but I'm not sure how this will affect my iPhone sync. Will I need a local copy of my music on a computer in order to continue to sync?

Hi,
I have an iPhone and I sync playlists to it from iTunes. (I have far in excess of 16GB of music/podcasts.)
What I want to do is permanently share my music library with all devices in the house, so I'm planning on buying a NAS server that has a built-in iTunes server. (I don't want to just use my computer to share and leave it on 24/7 because that is a phenominal waste of power.) That way all networked computers can just load the library under the 'SHARED' option in the left pane. However, this had me wondering about how I will continue to sync my music to my iPhone? I wondered if I will need to maintain a duplicate of the library on one of my computers, and then have my iPhone sync with that. Otherwise I'm not sure how it'll work.
Any help/comments/suggestions will be greatly appreciated.
Tom.

Incidentally, my first thought was to map a network share from the NAS to my computer, so that my music files appear on the Z: drive, say on my computer. I could then set up iTunes to store music etc in that folder, and to copy all new items to that folder. However, if I do that, all that'll happen is that on my NAS, the library file will become out of date as I add music to the collection but not to the index.

Using a NAS to as iTunes server

I am looking to purchase a NAS to use primarily as a reliable (RAID-5) photo and music repository, to be shared amongst my family computers (6 PCs). Most of our iTunes library content was purchased from the iTunes store, and the rest ripped from CDs.
I see that several NAS devices claim to have built-in iTunes server capability, but do not really go in to exactly what that means. I am wondering specifically how this works with the digital rights management of iTunes Store purchased files.
Basically, I want to be able to run iTunes on any PC, purchase from the iTunes Store from any PC, have the content downloaded to the NAS, and be able to see that from any other PC, from which an iPod can sync.
Thanks in advance
--Michael

Hi - I've been working on the same project; in my case between pc's, a macbook, an NAS, and the Tivo series 3. Here's what I've learned so far:
- you can set up a library on an NAS through Bonjour; the NAS must be preconfigured with a Samba server and Bonjour enabled to be recognized by iTunes clients (I can confirm this works with the MacBook client without downloading the music files to the local hard disk but I have not built a playlist on the NAS yet)
- you can consolidate all your libraries from existing clients to the NAS, so that music you have purchased, encoded, etc. can all be put into one place with the same playlist info
- you can keep track of music encoded or purchased by any client by using a synch app like TuneRanger for Mac and PC (same software works on both); this will also periodically synch podcasts and other content as well
- you can play iTunes libraries and playlists on your home theater system through Tivo Desktop a local iTunes client (not sure if that will work with the shared NAS library yet but I'm working on it)
- you can install Bonjour on your PC as a download from Apple but it needs to be installed or repaired after every Java SE runtime install or update; Bonjour is included with any OS 10.4 or higher on the Mac
- you can synch iPods to the NAS through a local iTunes client; this definitely works with the MacBook but I have not yet attempted with a PC client
- I picked up the Cavalry 2TB NAS product that is now selling for $300; the doc set is not a literary masterpiece but it gets the job done in significant detail; the internal drives I got with this appliance are WD Caviar SE16
Give it a shot - what have you got to lose but hours and hours of TV!

Can Apple TV access am iTunes server on a NAS (Qnap)?

My 160GB Apple TV is nearly full now, so to have more content available I am faced with having to leave my PC on all the time and stream from there, rather than storing everything locally on the ATV.
This is not ideal for me. At the same time, I have been considering buying a NAS for general data backup and other purposes. If I get a Qnap NAS with iTunes server installed, can the AppleTV stream from there in the same way as it does with my PC at the moment?
Thanks

anderan wrote:
I don't se why not.
The majority of iTunes servers out there are not compatible with AppleTV - other iTunes libraries may see the NAS server, but AppleTV requires registering a sync/stream library with the iTunes instance with a 5 digit code - if the server can handle this it may work but most will have no way of performing the registartion process.
AppleTV may be available as an Airport speaker to any iTunes instance, but it does not just 'see' shared iTunes NAS libraries as an iTunes instance would.
If the device is actually running iTunes and you can interact you may be able to pair but in genera the answer would be no.
If you can confirm you definitely had it working for sync/streaming then other users would probably love to hear more details.
Message was edited by: Alley_Cat

ITunes Server on a NAS...I don't get it...please help!

Hello,
I currently have all my iTunes files (including the library file) on a small network drive. iTunes is set to point there for storing music and the library file, so any computer on my network can access the same library and info. All is well.
Recently, I started looking into getting a nice, big RAID 1 NAS for redundancy purposes, and I have come across some (like a D-Link and a Buffalo Linkstation Live) which claim to have a "built-in" iTunes server.
I guess I'm really confused as to what a built in server does that I haven't already set up myself with a network drive. I was just going to copy all my files on the new NAS, and set iTunes to look on that mapped drive for the library file and all the media files. So what does the "built in" server do on top of that? I can't figure out if this capability is something that should affect my decision to go with a particular NAS or not...please help!
Thanks

I have the FD GeForce 1TB NAS set up as Raid 1. When I check the "itunes server" option, it simply showed the library in iTunes under shared libraries. I think it also made a distinct share for the library, even though I had already made one. So I turned the option off. I have all of my music on a share called "iTunes". If I have other computers in the house I'm sure they will still be able to see the music since iTunes can search for shared libraries. In other words, I'm not sure what the "iTunes server" option does that you can't do on your own. I think it just makes it easier for some.
Now after reading some posts, I suppose that other users would have trouble writing to my itunes library over the network, especially if it shows up as a shared library. Maybe that is the point of an itunes server? I'm not sure I want anybody writing to my library.
On another note, how can you point your itunes library file to another drive? I moved all the iTunes files to the NAS, but each time I open itunes it recreates the library and .xml files on the macbook HD. If other users can't find the library file, will they be able to listen? So all of the iTunes system files are on my local HD, but I have an artwork folder on the local and NAS, but I'm not sure which one it is using, do you know?

AppleTV and iTunes without Leaving Computer On All The Time/NAS iTunes Server

I begrudge having to leave my iMac on all the time just so now and again I can play music, pictures and video from it through AppleTV. My iMac is 2 floors up from the AppleTV, and as there is no wake on LAN working (I can't get it to work if there is (I have Lion)) I don't want to go up there to turn the Mac on when I want to use AppleTV.
So I have read some articles about iTunes servers on NAS drives and wondered if that would be a good solution, anyone try them?
If I did have my iTunes library on a NAS drive with an iTunes server, when I start iTunes on my iMac will it then load the iTunes Library as it does now like if it was a local library? So I can still manage it in the same way as I do on my Mac.
I assume then I could have another computer use the same library on the NAS? (although wont do it the same time due to conflicts)
I have iCloud/Match so not so bothered about music as I can play from the Cloud (although its hit ad miss sometimes), but I have videos and pictures I stream to AppleTV so they are more important. I don't want to have a computer left on all the time so I can use AppleTV.
If this is not possible, then I am thinking of getting a Macbook for the lounge, but then I don't want to have to plug/unplug my external hard drives into it all the time, which I am likely to swap with the main iMac too.
Thanks a lot

P.S. I only play music from iCloud as my iMac is not on. So if I can stream to AppleTV without having a computer on, then I would do that to be faster, work all the time, and save bandwidth.

Airport Extreme = NAS and iTunes server?

Looking for a way to move my external 2TB disk with iTunes content from my iMac and in to the Airport Extrem usb connection. All because I want to access my iTunes library without turning on my iMac. My wish is to use it all from my iPhone remote and be sure that AppleTV also synch to my library from the same disk.
Is this possible?
Are Airport Extreme capable of doing the job as a NAS and iTunes server?

Erik Bjørgum wrote:
Is this possible?
no.
you need iTunes running. you can sync content to the Apple TV, then shut down your iMac, and play the content on the Apple TV on your TV set (or stream tunes from the Apple TV to airport express). you can control the content on the ATV with the Apple remote app installed on your iPhone.
Message was edited by: Jolly Giant

Trouble again with iTunes and iTunes server

Is anyone having issues with iTunes and thier iTunes server using 10.5, I have a NAS that acts as a iTunes server and all was well prior to the 10.5 update.

Are you running any Firewalls or Anti-Virus software? If so, disable all of that stuff & try again.

ITunes on NAS with iTunes server

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