Buffalo NAS iTunes support

[admin_exported]

Hi all,

I'm looking at getting a NAS and was leaning toward the Buffalo TeraStation Pro II. However the Linkstation Live caught my eye because it makes a feature of iTunes support.

Specifically it says "Seamlessly integrates with iTunes® 7 and allows you to access your music files on the LinkStation from your iTunes software". Unfortunately that's all I could find, even after downloading the manual.

Am I missing something here, as that doesn't seem much of a feature to me?

All I planned to do anyway was move the iTunes folder location to the NAS, so how does this differ?

Has anyone used one of these and does this do anything special, or is there a fundamental flaw in my "I'll just move the iTunes folder to the NAS" idea?

Thanks in advance, Steve.

 

[John Duncan]

Well iTunes support in a NAS means that you can just have the NAS running, as opposed to your computer, so that iTunes clients (like Apple TV or Airport Express) can use it. However - and it's a big however for me - this seems to mean that you can only use the library as an 'attached' one - ie no cover art, no playlists, yadda yadda. This is not from experience, just from digging into the spec. Since my computer's on all the time, I personally prefer to have my Mac being the server, and just, as you suggest, have the files sitting on the network, so can get away with using cheap network storage from the likes of freecom.

If anyone can demonstrate a real advantage of the Linkstation over and above this, I'd love to hear it.

 

[Anonymous]

Thanks John,

My setup is similar to yours, but I'm after a NAS to store all my data on (preferably with redundancy though, hence why I was leaning toward the TeraStation over the linkstation).

I'd assumed that all a NAS would do anyway is store the music, and that you'd still need a seperate server somewhere. But I'd like to know if this isn't the case, as really I shouldn't leave the computer on the whole time.

If there's a NAS out there that would let me do that, then I'd love to know about it.

Cheers, Steve.

 

[John Duncan]

There are plenty that have a small processor and run an OS (usually a version of Linux, often embedded) which mean that they can run a server of some sort - common ones are Squeezecentre, Twonky and an iTunes server of some sort, so that you can just use the NAS instead of running a PC or Mac as the server. QNap, Buffalo and Lacie are names that spring to mind.

However, I have reservations about the iTunes server idea (as implemented) for reasons stated above - seems that when you run iTunes on your main computer, all you get from the network drive is an attached library, not full access, and for that reason I'd prefer to just use my NAS as a network drive location, with my Mac as the server. Note that I haven't tried this as my NASes are simple affairs - I have two simple Freecom drives on the network, one as the master file location and one as a mirror, though I set up the mirroring myself. AFAIK I can't fiddle with the OS (which again I presume is Linux).

 

[Anonymous]

Those Buffalo NAS simply show in the playlist side of iTunes, as a shared playlist.

It's not like the NAS is "running iTunes" so you miss features, as mentioned above.

How about getting a Mac Mini with a 1TB USB/Firewire attached? You can share that entire harddrive, so it is effectively a NAS.

What's more, iTunes can be a start-up item, so run automatically. It's therefore an "iTunes server" accessible for Aiport Express/Remote App etc.

Also, it will integrate ripping. Set the iTunes preferences to auto-import when a CD is inserted.

 

[Anonymous]

Thanks guys, food for thought.

I'm currently demoing Twonky on the PC and I know they do a Linux version so perhaps it can be run straight from a NAS. It'd save me firing everything up, or at least encourage me to shut stuff off. Still need access to iTunes though for importing and stuff.

As for the Mac Mini and Airport Express then I hadn't really considered that seeing as I've already got a PC and wireless set up. I'll have to look into it though, as I do like the look of the little fella...

The Airport Express looks handy too (makes me wish I'd bought an iphone though and not this Sony...). Does it work with other makes of wireless router, or just Apples? Apples site says it works with existing networks, but gives the Airport Extreme as an example. Sorry if it's an obvious question, but I don't know anyone with this setup, and the nearest Apple store is flamin' miles away...

Cheers.

 

[John Duncan]

Yep, I run it with a Belkin router.

But Airport Express works only with iTunes, or by buying Airfoil, which allows you to stream anything, and I can't vouch for you being able to install that on a NAS (in fact I'd be astonished if you could.)

 

[professorhat]

SSwain:I'm currently demoing Twonky on the PC and I know they do a Linux version so perhaps it can be run straight from a NAS. It'd save me firing everything up, or at least encourage me to shut stuff off. Still need access to iTunes though for importing and stuff.
I run Twonky on my old Buffalo Terastation - picked up a dodgy firmware upgrade for it off the internet somewhere which has everything installed (NB - it's only dodgy in that it wasn't an official version of the firmware I should point out - I still had to pay for and register Twonky so this is all legit!). I thought they actually came with Twonky installed on them these days actually (or at least a branded version of Twonky).
No good for playlists and that with iTunes though as you say, just folder access to the files which are shared.

 

[Anonymous]

Thanks guys you've been a huge help.

I was looking in the hi-fi shop today and there seems to be quite a bit of stuff out there that I was completely oblivious of. That squeeze box looks interesting for a start. And I've only just noticed that there's a whole forum dedicated to wi-fi so I'll start looking through there. I suppose really I should be looking for Christmas presents for other people, but you know...

Cheers, Steve.

 

[Anonymous]

Just wanted to add, that you can make playlists with the files on a NAS device. In addition, it does indeed show cover art, in fact there isn't much of a difference once you have everything set up correctly. The only however I'd add, relates to movies which I know isn't this websites primary concern but if you have a lot of movies in your iTunes library, depending on the size and bit rate and the speed of your network - it can make your movie stutter a little unless you're on a fast network. Also, things can be a little delayed.

For instance, when right clicking and choosing get info on a movie that is stored on your NAS, it can take about 5 seconds until the 'Get Info' box actually gathers the information and is displayed. The movies are perfectly watchable however and I have a gig LAN and n wireless network and even my large/high bit rate movies play fine, there is just a little lag when starting something that didn't used to happen when I stored the files locally (computers internal hard drive). Music is a totally different thing though, the files are so small that even my 24/96 files play immediately and the art work is displayed as per usual and I almost exclusively listen to music from a playlist.ÿ

 

[professorhat]

Yup, you can absolutely store your iTunes Library on a NAS - the main point we were making here is, to access the playlists etc. you need to have your Mac / PC running so that software can access iTunes. If you don't have iTunes running, a DLNA client like a network enabled amp can access the music files, but not the playlists etc.