Is iTunes too slow for you when using a NAS?

[Sy101]

Hi All,

I've just moved my music library to a NAS (Western Digital My Book Live Duo) and finding it's slow to respond vs before when the music was on my MacBook Pro's HD. iTunes Match (when it scans your library against it's database before deciding what to upload to iCloud) takes far too long.

The NAS is connected directly to the router and my laptop is accessing the network via wifi (will try an ethernet powerline connection tonight). Perhaps I need a network switcher inbetween the router and NAS? My Cyrus hi-fi currently involves AirPlay for digital music, but if I move to a more premium network streamer I need to have a smoothly running NAS solution.

Welcome hearing your experiences.

 

[Sy101]

I have now put a Netgear switcher between my router and the NAS, plus connected my MacBook Pro to the internet via ethernet (using the Develo powerline sockets) and things are much improved.

Do you keep your iTunes library apps on your NAS as well?

 

[rjb70stoke]

Is your library file on the NAS as well?

Ive found that if just the media is on the NAS it works OK, however if the Library XML file is also on the NAS, it takes much much longer to become usable.

Unfortunately, while this seems to work OK, on my second system. It still doesnt perform as well as on my main MacBook running iTunes directly from its internal HDD.

 

[scene]

I set my iTunes up on my PC and then wanted to move it to my Netgear Duo NAS. I did some research, and decided the best way to do this was from within iTunes and letting it move the files. This appears just to move the actual music files and their directories, leaving most of the other stuff on your PC. This all works pretty well, with some caveats:

1. Ripping a CD to iTunes using WiFi connection to the NAS is slow

2. Changing any attributes of a file - such as description, category, etc. - takes forever over WiFi

I've now got Gigabit ethernet (CAT6 hardwire) and the performance on the NAS is pretty much equivalent to having it on the PC. The only slight loss of performance I've seen is on writing new data, which I suspect is due to the mirrored disks in the NAS.

One other option - which I haven't tried (yet) - is to use the iTunes server option on my NAS to make the music an external library - not sure what sort of performance this would have.

 

[Sy101]

Thx for replying, yes the library file was on the NAS.

 

[Sy101]

Hi Scene,

Could you tell me the process you went through.

I went to access the library on wifi and partner watching BBC iPlayer at the same time resulted in iTunes taking 5mins to open! And songs cut in and out.

I will try accessing my library through the NAS media server within iTunes which I'm sure will be quicker..but you get less options that way within iTunes...and the issue of syncing your iPad, iPhone etc..

I'm thinking music on external HD's when you have to use iTunes just doesn't go....this is the kind of topics I've love to read about in What Hi-Fi? They tend not to get too technical but the reality is the products they recommend need some technical expertise.

 

[Anonymous]

Hi, not sure if will help but I have recently copied my entire music library to a normal external hard drive (Freecom) which is connected to my laptop via USB cable.

In iTunes I then deleted my entire library and then from within iTunes I imported the whole music folder from the external drive into my iTunes library.

The accessing of tracks is as quick as from my laptop HD as is all other functionality including ripping CDs into iTunes.

I guess the difference is I'm using a normal (non-networked) external hard drive with direct connection via USB so may not be anything in what I've said that will help but obviously if you can avoid pulling in music over a network and just use an external hard drive for greater storage capacity iTunes can work fine.

 

[scene]

I used the option within iTunes - using the procedure documented by Apple here: Moving iTunes - you need to make sure the "Keep iTunes Media Folder organised" option is ticked, but apart from that it just grinds away and does it for you.

The things you have to be careful of, I've found, are Virus Scanners / Firewalls and the method by which you attach to the media location on the NAS.

Firewalls/Scanners can be a right pain in the a*se. If they think your media drive is external, then copying music to or playing it back from a NAS can result in massive performance degradation as they scan every bite of the file. You need to add appropriate exception rules for your Virus scanner - they vary a bit - but you basically want to make sure you're virus scanner thinks that the NAS is a LOCAL / TRUSTED IP address.

As for the method you attach to your media drive - I used UNC format addresses NASNAMEMediaPathMusic style approach and SMB (aka CIFS - depending on manufactured) protocol to share the media folder on the NAS. Other approaches, especially anything Windows Browser based (NetBios) just kills performance.