Best NAS as an ITunes server for Apple TV2

MartinH32

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As the title mentions, my Mrs is getting me an AppleTV 2 for xmas. Now I don't want to leave either my PC or (soon to be delivered) Macbook Pro on all the time, but I do want a NAS drive to attach to my home network so I would like one to attach as a server for Itunes.
Any suggestions?
 
No, it has been discussed before -the Mac/PC is the server. You can have the library on an external but it has to be served by iTunes running on something.
 
A mac mini would use less power than most NAS devices so i don't quite see the problem with leaving it on.

ie. 9.44W when left on compared to more than 10W for modern and much more for slightly older and cheaper devices left in hybrination mode for most NAS devices. Hence I think the OP worries about nothing leaving his Mac on.
 
Last edited by a moderator:
Rather than delete the sniping, I have simply removed all the posts that refer to them - feel free to edit them, removing the comments and post them again.

Bobbler, resorting to insults does not further arguements, and only gets you a slapped wrist.

You both had good points regarding each device. Lets get back to posting that shall we?
 
the only problem I'd have with using a Mac Mini is the lack of storage. 500GB (or 1TB with the server edition) would not be sufficient for my iTunes library.

I went with a NAS containing 2x2TB drives (mirrored so I don't have to endure the pain of re-ripping in the event of a single drive failure) and an Atom-powered Windows box (Asrock Ion330) to serve iTunes, which has it's library files on the NAS. The Apple TV streams from this instance of iTunes.

I'd love a Mac Mini, but can't justify the cost of one to basically be just a file server. My Asrock Ion330 can be purchased for around £200, plus another £60 or so for an OEM edition of Windows 7 Home Premium. I guess you could use Linux and something like WINE to avoid the Windows Tax and run iTunes that way.

OK, so my NAS cost about £310 for a fully populated system with the drives , but that comes in total to £570, giving 4x more storage than the equivalent Mac Mini at £599. The Mac Mini is more capable than my Atom machine, but as a dumb server, I get 4x the storage for the same price.

Had Apple kept the price of the Mini where it was at launch, it would have been a no brainer, but that's a topic for a different debate :)
 
I only used the Mini as a comparison for power consumption. The OP was thinking of using his PC or new to be purchased Macbook Pro but was afraid to leave it on and thought a NAS without a computer would be better.

I'm not suggesting at any stage to replace buying a NAS for a Mac Mini, but since I don't know what Macbook Pro the OP is going to get I just shared my power consumption.

And yes my Mini Server actually connects to two 1U cases powered by fanless AtomD510 on OpenSolaris to provide further disk space but that is a whole different conversion as well :)
 

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