Itunes, Time Capsule and apple TV oh my

Question

So currently i have a MBP 13" i just got a G4 Dual 1.25 to run as a Itunes server in my basement.
Here is my thought process so hopefully someone can help out.
I am either going to get an airport extreme anda USB drive or a Time Capsule not sure which yet but the principle is the same it will just come down to the deal i find.
I want to load all my music on the USB drive/Time capsule as well as TV shows/movies from itunes or vidoe files i already have(Converted to mp4)
So i will have both computers connect to the itunes library and everything should be great there correct each should be able to see all the media.
Here is the questions now:
The G4 is going to be used to serve up airtunes as well through the house and depending on the mac announcment today i migh tget an apple tv as well. this should be ok right?
next itunes question we will do most of the mangement from the MBP so if i add a song to the itunes library from the MBP does the G4 Itunes automatically find it or does it need to be resync somehow? hopefully that makes sense?
Second question if i sync my/my wifes iphone to the MBP do we get the ituens library as well?
Hopefully all this makes sense.
thanks

Answer 1

Virtualdodo wrote:
so the Drive conected to the TC is essentially just there if you need it.
the drive (A) connected to the TC (or extreme) would hold your main library and would be accessed by both machines over the network.
however, a drive connected to a TC (or extreme) cannot be backed up using time machine. same goes for the TC's internal drive.
therefore my suggestion to periodically connect the drive to your Mac and use one of the apps above to backup drive A (main drive) to drive B.
you could of course connect drive A to the Mac, then use time machine to back it up to the TC. but, time machine is scheduled to run hourly backups and i feel it just isn't practical for your intended purpose.
kind of like what i do right now got an external that i connect to the MBP and then use time machine to back it up twice a week.
i don't think it is smart to have TM back up your system twice a week only. by default, TM runs hourly (but the frequency can be adjusted by way of 3rd party tools) and it might not be able to catch the file you deleted in between backups but it is just that file you need to restore.
my recommendation to you would be this setup:
(a) get a TC for time machine backups of your Macs over the network and two USB drives for your iTunes library (one main and one backup ). USB drives are fairly cheap these days but you would be entrusting your precious media files to them.
follow this link for a choice of reliable external drives: http://eshop.macsales.com/shop/firewire/.
(b) connect USB drive A to the TC and copy the entire iTunes folder (not just the iTunes music folder) from the MBP to drive A using the finder.
(c) on both Mac, launch iTunes *while pressing option* on your keyboard. when prompted, click on +choose library+ and navigate to the iTunes folder on drive A. remember, only one Mac @ a time can access the library !
(d) every sunday (or whatever), disconnect drive A from the TC and hook it to your MBP. also hook drive B to the MBP and use either CCC or Chronosync to do incremental backups from A to B.
(e) reconnect drive A to the TC.
be sure drive A is mounted on the desktop of either Mac before launching iTunes. you can have the drive mount automatically @ startup by adding it to your login items via system preferences > accounts > login items.
JGG