06-22-2008, 06:17 PM

Ok I have 2 laptops. 1 is Windows and 1 is Mac. I also have lots of music...

I want a system whereby I can store all my music in 1 place, that can be accessed by both machines. Sounds to me like a NAS/Network external drive should suit this. Am I correct?
Or is there a better option?

As well; I would possibly like to be able to set up Time Machine for the mac, (and use the drive as general backup for the windows laptop and all files) - would this be possible?

And Re the music accessible by both laptops, how fast is a NAS? Would the music be able to be in the itunes library of both computer and play ok with no problems - or does it not work like that?


Any ideas, better solutions, or just 'yep get that'...
All help really so appreciated
Thanks


P.S. I know apple offer some expensive router/hd solution, well i don't know exactly. But i'm just spending a quick £80 on a simple NAS.

06-22-2008, 08:12 PM

Music...the quick answer is yes,...though the result will be less than desired.

You'd have two iTunes Libraries. When you add music from either laptop, the other laptop will not know about the update.

There is an alias trick to get this to work with two Macs, but Windows doesn't read aliases the same way Macs do.

You're better of getting an old G4 PowerMac on eBay and setting it up as an iTunes server. It would also serve as a NAS for the Windows laptop.

I don't think Time Machine works on FAT32 partitions, so that will be a no go since Windows can't read HFS+ and you want them to share files. Most likely the NAS doesn't even support HFS+.

06-23-2008, 05:42 AM

Thanks for your reply.
I'm going to look into the G4 PowerMac option from ebay...

However, is there no cheap network external drive that would work for my needs? I guess I would like one because it would mean less power being used (rather than running another computer) and it would be smaller.

...I have a spare PC in my house (slightly broken) that I could fix up and use as an iTunes server, like the G4 idea? - but again, it's a lot of power and big. But i'm thinking through these different possibilities. I'm very indecisive so all help very appreciated.

EDIT: Would this iTunes server -{G4 or another PC} be able to work as a Time Machine backup location?

06-23-2008, 05:49 AM

Originally Posted by MacsWork

Music...the quick answer is yes,...though the result will be less than desired.

You'd have two iTunes Libraries. When you add music from either laptop, the other laptop will not know about the update.

There is an alias trick to get this to work with two Macs, but Windows doesn't read aliases the same way Macs do.

You're better of getting an old G4 PowerMac on eBay and setting it up as an iTunes server. It would also serve as a NAS for the Windows laptop.

What if you get one of those NAS box with iTunes Server support on it, would that overcome the problem?

06-23-2008, 05:54 AM

Originally Posted by Shinji

What if you get one of those NAS box with iTunes Server support on it, would that overcome the problem?

This sounds interesting.
Please excuse my ignorance, but how exactly does this work? Can I get one that works with time machine?

06-23-2008, 06:02 AM

Originally Posted by mglinx

This sounds interesting.
Please excuse my ignorance, but how exactly does this work? Can I get one that works with time machine?

Sorry mate, I was actually asking a question as well Cos I too want to set up something like what you described in the OP

Cheers
Billy