Managing large iTunes library across multiple storage devices

Greetings,
I'm trying to find a way to manage a very large library of about 1 TB, which obviously won't fit on my MBP hard drive. I want my movies and tv shows on an external drive, but would like my music, podcasts, etc on my internal drive. I would like to ability to see all items when in iTunes, and would like the ability synch any of the items when synching my iPods, iPhone, or iPad.
I know I can go into the preferences and select the advanced tab and deselect the Copy files to iTunes Media folder when adding to library and then put my media on an external storage device.
My question is this... when I download new movie or tv shows from iTunes, where will it put them? Will it put them in my iTunes media folder, or will it put them on the external drive, or someplace else?
Wouldn't it be easier if Apple would allow you to designate where you wanted to put your videos versus or audo content? it just seems so "unintuitive" for a company that prides themselves on being easy to use, and of course, "just working"
Any help would be appreciated.
Thanks in advance... Scott

iTunes hasn't really caught up with Apple's seeming trend towards devices that are smaller and smaller and the glut of media that requires large storage. I guess in the end it might be expected one goes to cloud storage of some sort.
I have never bought anything from iTunes Store but I guess it will still download to someplace indicated in preferences for your media folder location even if you have turned off copy to for other methods of adding media. Two options then. Either make that place your internal drive and move files to the external as you download them, or make it the external drive and work with special handling of music files on the internal. You can override iTunes copying items if you hold down the option key while dragging the item to itunes.

Similar Messages

Sharing an iTunes Library across multiple user account and a network.

Sharing an iTunes Music Library across multiple user accounts.
Hello Everybody!
Firstly, this was designed to be run in Mac OS X 10.4 Tiger. It will not work with earlier versions of Mac OS X! Sorry.
Here's a handy tip for keeping your hard drive neat and tidy, it also saves space, what in effect will be done is an iTunes music library will be shared amongst multiple users on the same machine. There are advantages and disadvantages to using this method.
• Firstly I think it might be worthwhile to state the advantages and disadvantages to using this approach.
The advantages include:
- Space will be saved, as no duplicate files will occur.
- The administrator will be able to have complete control over the content of the iTunes library, this may be useful for restricting the content of the Library; particularly for example if computer is being used at and education institution, business or any other sort of institution where things such as explicit content would be less favorable.
- The machine will not be slowed by the fact that every user has lots of files.
The disadvantages to this system include.
- The fact that the account storing the music will have to be logged in, and iTunes will have to be active in that account.
- If the account housing the music is not active then nobody can use the iTunes library.
- There is a certain degree of risk present when an administrator account must be continually active.
- Fast User Switching must be enabled.
Overview:
A central account controls all music on the machine/network, this is achieved by storing iTunes files in a public location as opposed to in the user's directory. In effect the system will give all users across the machine/network access to the same music/files without the possibility of files 'doubling up' because two different users like the same types of music. This approach saves valuable disk space in this regard and may therefore prove to be useful in some situations.
This is a hearty process to undertake, so only follow this tutorial if you're willing to go all the way to the end of it.
Process:
Step 1:
Firstly, we need to organize the host library, I tidied mine up, removing excess playlists, random files, things like that. this will make thing a bit easier in the later stages of this process.
Once the library is tidied up, move the entire "iTunes" folder from your Home directory to the "//localhost" directory (The Macintosh HD) and ensure that files are on the same level as the "Applications", "Users", "Library" and "System" directories; this will ensure that the files in the library are available to all users on the machine (this also works for networks)
Optionally you can set the ownership of the folder to the 'administrator' account (the user who will be hosting the library.), you may also like to set the permissions of 'you can' to "Read & Write" (assuming that you are doing this through the user who will host the library); secondly you should set the "Owner" to the administrator who will be hosting the library and set their "access" to "Read & Write" (this will ensure that the administrator has full access to the folder). The final part of this step involves setting access for the "Others" tab to "Read Only" this will ensure that the other users can view but not modify the contents on the folder.
Overview:
So far we have done the following steps:
1. Organized the host library.
2. Placed the iTunes directory into a 'public' directory so that other users may use it. (this step is essential if you plan on sharing the library across multiple accounts on the same machine. NOTE: this step is only necessary if you are wanting to share you library across multiple accounts on the same machine, if you simply want to share the music across a network, use the iTunes sharing facility.
3. set ownership and permissions for the iTunes music folder.
Step 2:
Currently the administrator is the only user who can use this library, however we will address this soon. In this step we will enable iTunes music sharing in the administrator's account, this will enable other users to access the files in the library.
If you are not logged in as the administrator, do so; secondly, open iTunes and select "Preferences" from the "iTunes" menu, now click the "Sharing" tab, if "share my library on my local network" is not checked, the radio buttons below this will now become active, you may choose to share the entire libraries contents, or share only selected content.
Sharing only selected content may be useful if their is explicit content in the library and minors use the network or machine that the library is connected to.
If you have selected "share entire library" go to Step 3, if you have selected share "share selected playlists" read on.
After clicking "share selected playlists" you must then select the playlists that you intend to share across your accounts and network. Once you have finished selecting the playlists, click "OK" to save the settings.
Overview:
In this step we:
1. Enabled iTunes sharing in the administrator's account, now, users on the local network may access the iTunes library, however, users on the same machine may not.
Step 3:
Now we will enable users on the same machine to access the library on the machine. This is achieved by logging in as each user, opening iTunes, opening iTunes preferences, and clicking "look for shared music". now all users on the machine may also access the library that the administrator controls.
This in effect will mean that the user will not need to use their user library, it will be provided to them via a pseudo network connection.
As a secondary measure, I have chosen to write a generic login script that will move any content from the user's "Music/iTunes/iTunes Music" directory to the trash and then empties the user's trash.
This is done through the use of an Automator Application: this application does the following actions.
1. Uses the "Finder" action "Get Specified Finder Items"
1a. The user's "~/Music/iTunes/iTunes Music" folder
2. Uses the "Finder" action "Get Folder Contents"
3. Uses the "Finder" action "Move to Trash"
4. Uses the "Automator" action "Run AppleScript"
4a. with the following:
on run {input, parameters}
tell application "Finder"
empty trash
end tell
return input
end run
IMPORTANT: Once the script is adapted to the user account it must be set as a login item. in order to keep the script out of the way i have placed it in the user's "Library" directory, in "Application Support" under "iTunes".
Overview:
Here we:
1. Enabled iTunes sharing in the user accounts on the host machine, in effect allowing all users of the machine to view a single iTunes library.
2. (Optional) I have created a login application that will remove any content that has been added to user iTunes libraries, this in effect stops other users of the machine from adding music and files to iTunes.
Step 4:
If it is not already enabled, open system preferences and enable Fast User Switching in Accounts Options.
Summary:
We have shared a single iTunes library across multiple user account, while still allowing for network sharing. This method is designed to save space on machines, particularly those with smaller hard drives.
I hope that this hint proves to be helpful and I hope everybody will give me feedback on my process.
regards,
Pete.
iBook G4; 60GB Hard Drive, 512MB RAM, Airport Extreme Mac OS X (10.4.6) iWork & iLife '06, Adobe CS2, Final Cut Pro. Anything and Everything!!!

how to share music between different accounts on a single computer

Sharing one iTunes library across multiple accounts on the same Mac

Hello, I've poked around at some of the posts dealing with sharing one iTunes music library across multiple accounts on the same Mac but it seems like this can only be done if the libary is moved to a shared folder. I realize this can be done but I was trying to share it the way it is described in a post on Apple support (See link below.). That post seemed to imply that you don't have to move the library from its original location (owned by account A, e.g.), rather just make a couple preference changes in the accounts, use fast user switching and voila. That doesn't seem to work. So my question is this: Is the only way to share one iTunes music library across multiple accounts on the same Mac to move it to a shared folder? I'm running 10.4.8 on an Intel iMac. Thanks in advance!
http://docs.info.apple.com/article.html?artnum=93195

After reading this and several other related threads, I am becoming thoroughly confused about all of this. I have a situation similar to the one that pokerpal described in the post dated January 7 at 8:06 pm, except that the music files on my system are located on an external hard drive. Everything else is pretty much the same though - I am the admin user (and the main iTunes user and maintainer) and my girlfriend is a standard user who has no music in her own iTunes library. She can see and listen to and make playlists from and sync her iPod with the music in this library from her account, and I can do the same thing, independent of her, from my account. And if I make a change to information within a song, she doesn't see it, and vice versa, and I understand that. What I don't understand is why when I add a song or an album to the music files by importing a CD or downloading something from the iTunes Music Store, she has no way of knowing that unless I tell her, and then she can add it to her library by using the "Add to Library" function. Is there no way of automatically updating her library files to add the new song(s)? We have almost 15,000 songs and videos in that library, and I don't even want to think about what might have to happen if the answer to my question is "no." Interestingly enough, if I put an update to a Word document in the same exact location (on the hard drive), we can update that and pass it back and forth all day - why is that such a difficult task for iTunes to accomplish?
Sorry I went on so long, but this has been building up for some time, and none of the solutions I've read about here have really been of any help, so I'm a bit frustrated and, as I said at the beginning, confused.
iMac G5, MacBook Mac OS X (10.4.8)

Managing sole iTunes library with multiple machines on-the-go with database&media on external drive?

Hi fellows. Trying to organize & revamp my iTunes library & wish to achieve a configuration but lack the expertise to achieve it. My objectives are:
Objectives
+1. for my multimedia content to be stored/accessed from an external hard disk+
+2. to keep the entire iTunes multimedia & all necessary operating files as self-contained as possible,+
+3. Allow multiple machines to manage import of new content into library, i.e. download new episodes of podcasts, rip new music & movies into the library, sync-ing of iPod even when said machine is nowhere near my external hard disk (this is the tricky one)+
_Justification for my objectives_
For objective #3, it's not that I'm trying to be funny. My use case is I've 1 laptop (main machine & always at home) & 1 netbook (brought to school daily). Most of my iTunes usage will be via the stay-at-home laptop; but I may wish to add/manage new content onto my iTunes library/iPod while I'm outside (hence, decoupled from my external hard disk at home).
I'm not trying to be funny for objective #1 either. I wish to have a streamlined process of retaining & re-instating my iTunes library meta-data across system re-format, i.e. where the iTunes library db files' location may be changed (most obvious being the new "My Music" folder path in Win7 from WinXP)
_What I'm well aware of_
I understand that storing/re-locating multimedia on external hard disk is no-kick to iTunes veteran. I also understand that after a new installation of iTunes, I can move the fresh copy of "iTunes_library.itl" & "iTunes_library.xml" files to my external volume & point iTunes to their new address from the 2nd launch onwards. I also understand any new machines I introduce into my environment can be directed to that exact copy of iTunes library database files when I install iTunes & pressing "Shift" key upon their launch. Lastly, I also understand that I will have no access to my multimedia files (for playback) while I'm outside, but I can still add new content, & download new podcasts & remove old content from my library/iPod
_The question_
However, what I have difficulty achieving, is launching iTunes on my on-the-go machine(s), without a local copy of the iTunes library database files. I doubt iTunes will be able to launch at all, & if I create a new library (just to launch iTunes), it will not possess content from my main media collection & likely to wipe out my iPod.
_My novice attempt & its inadequacies_
My 1st instinct, is to have the iTunes library database files stored in the cloud. More specifically, I can store them files in my DropBox folder/account, & have every machine update to a single latest version of iTunes library database files upon Internet connection. However, this method depends on:
+* the DropBox application to exist forever,+
+* assumed the installation path of DropBox (or any applications for that matter) to persist/remain unchanged across future versions of operating systems,+
+* Will corrupt any un-sync-ed version of my iTunes library database files when I launched iTunes without 1st updating the local cached copy of them database files (suppose I manage my iPod playlists via iTunes on a plane)+
_Open for recommendations_
So here I'm, all ears to any fine recommendations you iTunes veterans have to offer. Thanx in advance.

In case anyone is interested in these sorta thing:
UPDATE #4: Unfortunately, if you discover you tagged something wrong after importing the songs, even when you correct the tags, iTunes will not re-organize the folder hierarchy, as long as “Keep iTunes Music folder organized“ is UNchecked, even if the songs were imported via the “Automatically add to iTunes folder” channel.
Example: I imported a folder of Andy Lau songs into my library, unbeknownst to me, some of the songs had their “Artist” tagged as “Andy Lau“, while some had theirs tagged as “Liu De Hua“. Naturally, the 1st time round I imported them, 2 separate folders were instantiated as to iTunes, those were names of 2 distinct artists (this is expected, & acceptable behaviour). The downside is, even if I re-tagged all those songs with “Andy Lau” as the artist, iTunes will no longer re-organize & consolidate all them songs into a single “Andy Lau” artist folder (because I’d “Keep iTunes Music folder organized” UNchecked remember?)
Well, you may suggest that I check that option when managing my future library & uncheck it right before launching/using my main, current library. The thing is, iTunes preferences persist across libraries, & one day I will forget to uncheck that option, launch my main library & lose all my current music folder structure to iTunes’ re-organization (which I don;t want, as of yet). Which brings me to another update:
UPDATE #5: My future iTunes library has “I:/iTunes_Media” as iTunes’s “Home” folder. This setting persists even when I switch back to my main, current library. Which means, if I’d my external volume connected while launching/using my main, current library, all new content will end up in that folder on the external volume! Which messes up the whole scheme of things! Arghz!
UPDATE #6: Here’re some updates with regards to ID3 tags:
* the “Album Artist” in Windows (7) Explorer = the “Album Artist” field in iTunes 9
* Modifying a ID3 tag field using Windows (7) Explorer will update BOTH the v1 & v2.3 version of the ID3 tags on the song (if the song has both versions of tags embedded & if the field exists in both tag versions). If you update the tags via iTunes, only the v2.3 tags get updated. This is surprising.
* the “Contributing Artist” field in Windows (7) Explorer = the “Artist” field in iTunes 9 & the “Artist” field in ID3v1 tags (changes in tany of the 3 fields will affect the other 2 respectively)
o However, iTunes Media folder organization will only adhere to the value saved in the “Album Artist” field [if you change the value of "Contributing Artist" in Windows (7) Explorer, the "Artist" field in iTunes or the "Artist" field in a song's ID3v1 tags, no folder re-organization will occur]
UPDATE #7: Some updates with regards to workflow:
Decided to retain all non-music content within a sub-folder named “non-music” beneath the main album folder (& take strict precautions to import songs only). The exception is “m3u” playlist files. Have read elsewhere if you import a folder of songs & there’s an “m3u” playlist inside, your library may have duplicates and/or the tags of those songs you just imported could be screwed, etc.

Sharing an iTunes library across multiple computers

I tried Home Share but it did not do what i expected. In addition to doing Home Share, the files need to be copied to each computer apparently.
Is it permitted to have the iTunes Library be located on a shared disc (such as one attached to an AirPort Express)? So that one copy of the library would be used by all copies of iTunes running in the house?
I am confused because different products seem to work differently. If I set up my iMac and my Mac Book with Home Share, each of htem needs a copy of the library in its own disk space. But if I set up Apple TV to use Home Share, it plays my videos from the hard drive of my iMac. Yes both describe Home Share as the same concept.
So far it appears that MacBook and iMac do not share libraries in the sense of using a single copy on disk.
What about iPhone and iPad? Do they read the library from the home sharing computer or do the media files need to be downloaded ahead of time to the iOS device?
What am I missing here?
Thanks,
Bruce

Not really. Each computer will have a separate library within iTunes. They can be set to use the same file storage location but I have no idea how to do that with a Mac.

Problems sharing iTunes library across multiple accounts on one imac

I have followed the Mac OS instructions in this article http://support.apple.com/kb/HT1203 to share music accounts on the family iMac by putting the iTunes Media folder in a public directory. When I go to connect to this library the I cannot see the actual iTunes Media folder but the following file path is available: ~/Public/Automatically Add to iTunes.localized. Selecting this folder does not appear to make the library available.
Has anyone had this problem?

iTunes: How to share music between different accounts on a single computer - http://support.apple.com/kb/HT1203 - relocating iTunes' media folder to a shared area but leaving separate library files - extra tip at https://discussions.apple.com/message/17331189
Chris CA's instructions on sharing one iTunes music library between multiple user accounts - https://discussions.apple.com/message/8974074 - Multiple users using a single library file - similar post at: https://discussions.apple.com/thread/3753008

Share a large iTunes library with multiple computers

I have a very big itunes library that I share with several computers at my home from a mac mini and lion server. This solution works well in that all my home computers can access the itunes library on the server and play music through the "Shared" feature. The downside of this solution is that if I (or my wife, or my daughter, or my son) want to put some music on our iphones, we have to sync the iphone with the mac mini so that the itunes library is local.
I would like to figure out a way, where all of our music would be availble on all of our macbooks so we could create our own playlists, and sync our iphones.
I have considered iCloud, but I'm not sure how well (or how expensive) it might be to share 250 GB of music on iCloud. Does anyone have suggestions?
Thanks in advance.

I'm sort of in the same boat. We've got an iMac with separate User Accounts set up and are currently sharing the same iTunes and iPhoto libraries along with streaming them to our Apple TV.
Right now I'm the only one with an iPod, however she'll be getting one in a couple of weeks.
We also just picked up a MacBook yesterday and I'd like to be able to sync certain libraries like iTunes and iPhoto so that no content gets duplicated on either the iMac or MacBook and so that we both have access to the current libraries for each program on our iPods and AppleTV.
I have an external hard drive that I back up the iMac on and I assume I could manually keep things current with that but there's got to be an easier way...that's why these are Macs right?
Bill

HT1203 Problems sharing iTunes library across multiple accounts on one imac

I have followed the Mac OS instructions in this article http://support.apple.com/kb/HT1203 to share music accounts on the family iMac. When I go to connect to this library the I cannot see the actual ITunes Media folder but the following file path: ~/Public/Automatically Add to iTunes.localized. Selecting this folder does not appear to make the library available.
Has anyone had this problem?

You'll likely get better assistance in the iTunes for Mac forum instead of the iTunes for Windows forum where you've posted.

HT4914 Can I use iTunes match to share my iTunes library across different users on the same computer?

I'm a teacher and I use my MBP in school and, while I've not had any issues with students looking through my computer, I'd like to use a seperate 'school' user just in case. I need to have access to my iTunes library and I tried moving it to a shared folder but, possibly because of the size of my library, itdoesn't seem to work. Is there a way I can use iTunes match to enable my 'school' user to access my library in the same way I can with my iPhone?

Hey darkmavis86,
Great question, and welcome to Apple Support Communities.
I believe you would benefit from the following article:
iTunes: How to share music between different accounts on a single computer
http://support.apple.com/kb/HT1203
However, if you do decide to use iTunes Match the answer to your question is "Yes". iTunes Match can be used to "sync" your iTunes library across multiple devices / computers / users.
Thanks,
Matt M.

Sharing iTunes Match across multiple devices

Hi All,
I have done some searching but I can’t find the answer to my question(s).
Current setup:
I have 1 PC and 2 Macbooks (my PC and my children have a Macbook each). Each PC/Mac has its own iTunes Library which is linked by my homeshare account. We share most of the music we buy across our libraries via homeshare
We also have 3 iPhone 4’s mine and the children’s. Each iPhone 4 is linked to its own iTunes library on the respective devices and we have 3 separate iTunes accounts.
I have just signed up for iTunes music Match on my PC/iTunes Account and want to know what the deal is regarding setting up my kids iPhones so that they are also linked to my Music Match account and how that can be done. I also want them to be able keep their own iTunes account so that they can still buy music and apps and download them to their phone and synch to their Macbook iTunes libraries.
Is this possible?
In summary - I don’t want to pay for 3 iTunes Match accounts but want my kids to be able to take advantage (synch to thier iPhones) of the music that is now in the cloud via my music match account whilst keeping their own iTunes accounts.
Hope this is clear and that someone can help…
Cheers
M

what makes it tricky is the individual itunes accounts for apps.
regarding music, my recommendation is to put each computer on the same itunes account (keep the files, but link the computers to the same account) when you activate match on each computer, the software will add the files from each respective computer and will create a master library (each computer will be able to see ALL files from all three computers. Then, I would put each iphone on the same itunes account (everyone share the same account).
as for apps:
I'm thinking I am reading right that the three iphones are linked to separate computers. I am pretty sure that an itunes account on a laptop or desktop can be "authorized" by multiple accounts. One beauty of itunes 10.5 is the ability to sync an iphone on one computer for "photos" and use the same iphone to sync to another computer for "apps" and another computer for "podcasts" etc (if anyone had any use for doing such a thing). What I believe this would allow someone in your situation to do, is to essentially be able to log each child's iphone into one itunes account for itunes match, but then use each individual computer to still sync the children's different app accounts. One child can sync to one computer for their apps and another child to another computer for their apps, etc. The difference, however, is i'm pretty sure there is no getting around what to do about future bought apps. they might all have to be bought on one account. If that is truely the case, you may not be able to do separate itunes accounts. In such a scenario, i would add everything to the itunes account that has the most apps, and begin shareing apps among them in order to share itunes match

ITunes match across multiple devices?

Is it possible to use iTunes match across multiple devices? My wife and I use the same computer when at home and we have music stored on that computer. She had her own Apple id to use with her own iPhone, as do I. We don't want to have multiple music libraries since we liste to most of the same music. Is it possible to have iTunes match between 2 iPhones that are using different Apple id's but the same iTunes account?
Thanks

When I try to go to iTunes music match on her phone it asks me to sign into match, which I am assuming is the same as her Apple ID name and password. This is a different name and password than my account. So, it seems that she cannot access my "cloud" from her phone in order to download music that I have purchased. I guess since she has her own iClud account, she needs to sign up for iTunes match through that account and pay the fee. I was hoping we could access the same 'Cloud" to have the same library of music? Hope that made sense.
Thanks for the help.

How can I manage 1 iTunes library with 2 computers (not on same network)?

I have 1 very large iTunes library in which I am always adding/deleting/editing songs and 2 computers (1 home, 1 laptop). I would like to be able to manage my library with my laptop when I am away from home but also be able to see any changes I made next time I open iTunes on my home computer. I tried home sharing but this seems to be more for computers on the same network. My library is much too big for iCloud. Someone suggested I hold shift when I open iTunes to select a library but even though I can select the library file I want, it doesn't populate iTunes with my changes (or any music for that matter). I'm running XP with the latest version of iTunes (10.7.0.21). Thanks

This describes a work/home scenario. For home/away use, edit the library directly on the portable backup when away, then sync libraries on your return.
Sync iPod/iPad/iPhone with two computers
Although it isn't possible to sync an Apple device with two different libraries it is possible to sync with the same logical library from multiple computers. Each library has an internal ID and when iTunes connects to your iPod/iPad/iPhone it compares the local ID with the one the device normally syncs with. If they are the same you can go ahead and sync...
I have my library cloned to a small 1Tb USB drive which I can take between home & work. At either location I use SyncToy 2.1 to update the local copy with the external drive. Mac users should be able to find similar tools. I can open either of the local libraries or the one on the external drive and update the media content of my iPhone. The slight exception is Photos which normally connects to a specific folder on a specific machine, although that can easily be remapped to the current library if you create a "Photos" folder inside the iTunes Media folder so that syncing the iTunes folders keeps this up to date as well. I periodically sweep my library for new files & orphans with iTunes Folder Watch just in case I make changes at one location but then overwrite the library with a newer copy from the other. Again Mac users should be able to find similar tools.
As long as your media is organized within an iTunes Music or Tunes Media folder, in turn held inside the main iTunes folder that has your library files (whether or not you let iTunes keep the media folder organized) each library can access items at the same relative path from the library folder so the library can be at different drives/paths on different machines. This solution ensures I always have adequate backups of my library and I can update my devices whenever I can connect to the same build of iTunes.
When working with an iPhone earlier builds of iTunes would remove any file not physically present in the local library, even if there was an entry for it, making manual management practically redundant on the iPhone. This behavior has been changed but it will still only permit manual management with a library that has the correct internal ID. If you don't want to sync your library between machines on a regular basis just copy the iTunes Library.itl file from the current "home" machine to any other you want to use, then clean out the library entries and import the local content you have on that box.
tt2

Spreading your Aperture Library across multiple volumes/drives/disks

I recall reading posts elsewhere by others (on an Adobe Lightroom forum) on how one's Aperture Library had to sit on one volume, meaning that it could not span multiple disks. At the time I figured I would be fine for a while since I had about 150 GB of free space on my main disk, yet kept the topic at the back of my mind.
Today, as I do regularly, I was backing up my (Aperture) library to my iPod, (not through the "vault" mechanism but simply using Finder,) when I noticed it was copying (many) individual files, rather than one large file! Being familiar with Unix, including how certain items in Mac OSX are treated, such as "Applications" that appear to be one object in the GUI, yet are merely a folder structure behind the scene, it occurred to me that the Aperture Library, rather than being some sort of single-file database format, just might be a folder instead.
I checked, and it is. Mind you, that doesn't prevent Aperture from keeping proprietary files within those folders, however, it would seem to me that one could easily use symbolic links to throw some of the files, perhaps at the project level, onto other disks, and thus span your library across multiple volumes even if Aperture does not yet offer or manage this ability.
iMac G5 2.1 HGz, 1.5 GB RAM, 20" Mac OS X (10.4.7)

Perhaps this article will help shed light on Aperture's library organization:
http://homepage.mac.com/bagelturf/aparticles/library/libinside/libinside.html
Enjoy!
-- Jim

Suggestions for large iTunes library?

I have a very large iTunes library (110G) on an external drive, which I use only occasionally. The rest of the time, I use a smaller on on my MacBook.
When I want to use the large one, which I usually do via Airport, it can take hours to update itself. The "Genius" for example, can take hours just by itself... Then it does something for "gapless playback" or something...
Why does it need to do all of this stuff, and why does it take so long? Is all of this updating done on the external drive so it won't have to be updated again from another computer? (so, for example, if my wife opens that library from her computer.)
Or does anyone have tips for managing a large iTunes library that is only used infrequently?
Thanks,
Mark

"One more question, if you do have a second library you option into, are the library documents on the external drive or in your music/iTunes folder?" So they have all been on the external drive. I called Apple Support about dead tracks issue, and the 1st guy told me I SHOULD split them up, but that caused issues and I called back and the 2nd guy told me NOT to do that, so I've left them all on the external drive. The 2nd guy seemed more knowledgeable than the 1st guy.
I was hoping you weren't going to say that. My thought was that the library needed to be on the machine with the music so that multiple libraries on different machines weren't trying to manage the same music. So much for that theory.
This being the case, it would be interesting to see how it behaves if the library lives on your macbook.
This experiment would be easy and risk free:
Option into "create a new library" and create this new library in your music folder on your macbook.
While in this blank library go to the advanced preference tab and deselect "Copy files to the itunes media folder.....)
Then, from the itunes file menu browse to the music folder on the external drive and select it.
This will build a library that lives on your machine while the music files continue to live on the external.
This experiment is only worthwhile if you are sure that the library database for the music on the external drive lives on that external drive.
The risk with having the library live on your machine is that another library on another machine might also try to manage this music (your wife's machine for example) potentially causing a mismatch between your library and the music folder.
I hope that makes sense.

Can I share one iTunes Library with multiple computers on a network?

Can I share one iTunes Library with multiple computers on a network?
note: one library universally shared, not Home Sharing (one library each, shared to each.)
I want to share one library stores on my server and access it through various local computers. When I buy a song from a computer (non-server), I want it to be added to the library (stored on server). I want it to auto copy to my server, for organization. I want to be able to sync my phone from any computer.
Most of this I can do, if i figure out how to use one universal library for all my computers.
Any ideas how I can do this?

eyeinit,
You can authorize your iTunes account on up to 5 computers at a time.
However, purchased music is downloaded to the first machine to download it, but these articles have more information on moving your music between authorized computers:
http://docs.info.apple.com/article.html?artnum=93063
This one is for moving all your music using an iPod as a storage drive
http://docs.info.apple.com/article.html?artnum=300173
Hope this helps,
Nathan C.

Managing large iTunes library across multiple storage devices

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