Networking iTunes

One for the Mac-heads: I want to network iTunes but I’m not sure of the best way to do it. Anyone experimented with various options and found a solution?

This is what I want to do: I’ve got a powerbook upstairs and a Mac Mini under the telly, running Wi-Fi. I want to replace the wi-fi with powerline ethernet to get better performance (my house kills Wi-Fi very quickly) so there’ll be a Mac up here, Mac downstairs, Xbox 360 there too – and when I replace the powerbook, another Mac kicking around somewhere. Plan is to have them all connected via ethernet.

Each machine (Xbox excepted) will be running OS X and iTunes, and what I want to do is store the iTunes library in a single, central location (possibly an ethernet-aware hard disk). No matter what machine I use, I want to be able to use a single library – so I can update the iPod from whichever machine’s handy at the time, and so I can rip CDs from whatever machine is handy and then access the songs on any other Mac. What I *don’t* want to do is have an entire Mac running 24/7 or tunes streaming from one Mac to another.

Anyone tried something similar? Any top tips or warnings? I’m all electronic ears…


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0 responses to “Networking iTunes”

  1. This article seems to provide a way to move the library to an external hard drive: no reason it couldn’t be an ethernet drive, although be aware that the LaCie one is formatted FAT32 and therefore won’t support some Mac file names: if you reformat it to HPFS it won’t work on network, only FireWire! I don’t know about any of the others, but I would just get one of those Mac Mini external drives that fit under the Mini and leave the Mini on all the time: global warming’s a myth anyway!

    Then once you move your main iTunes library, just set the iTunes on the other Macs to use the new library.

    Here is the link:

    http://www.ilounge.com/index.php/articles/comments/moving-your-itunes-library-to-a-new-hard-drive/

  2. Gary

    Thanks for that.

    > global warming’s a myth anyway!

    My electricity bill isn’t :)

  3. Gary

    I like the look of Lacie’s 300GB network drive. It’s not too pricey, either. Yay! Or, yay if I ever get enough free cash for a network drive and powerline ethernet…

  4. david

    Only partially related – do you still have to grow a goatee if you own a mac? :-D

    How would I go about blasting a G3 ibook? Desperately needs wiped back to factory. I know how to do this on windows but not mac. (Also I have no disks other than any that come with the intel imacs)

  5. Gary

    Try the tiger install disk, I think it’s universal (not sure though). If not I’ve got a PPC build I can send you.

  6. david

    Cool, I’ll let you know. Obviously I won’t do it until after I’ve had a play with the imac. (Assuming it comes tomorrow)

  7. david

    I do feel a bit of a traitor btw. ;-D

  8. Actually, I’m just about to do something similar(ish) with my old eMac and a linux pc. So, keep us posted. TBH, I just haven’t sat down to have a real go at it yet.

  9. david

    I’ve never installed OS X before. I’ve done linux so it’s a new experience.

  10. I meant network them round the flat – sorry. OSX is a piece of piss to install. You should be able to use the restore disc for any machine – nevermind the install one.

  11. david

    Ah…

    Apparently power networking is quite simple and reliable now. You’re pretty much buggered if you get spikes though.

  12. IIRC there’s a NAS out there that will share any music on it as an iTunes library. I can’t remember which one it is though, or if you can copy from a shared library to an iPod.

    My, what a helpful comment that was ;)

  13. Gary

    Er, thanks Olly ;-)