donka
iPF Novice
Unfortunately no. Many NAS devices offer an iTunes server function but that is only to serve up the media library, you still need a Mac or PC to run the iTunes client software.
Getting a NAS - what do I need to think about?
- Thread starter Laban
- Start date
Unfortunately no. Many NAS devices offer an iTunes server function but that is only to serve up the media library, you still need a Mac or PC to run the iTunes client software.
Biggysmallz
iPF Noob
Thanks for your response.
JJK
iPF Noob
Laban said:
Not only that. The 4 drives give you also a lot of storage. The QNap comes good out of the reviews. They also have an active forum. You could go there to have a look.
The Dlink is a lower end model, but still a good choice. As I mentioned before. i have been happy with mine for many years.
Sent from my iPad using iPF
Media streaming
Although a few posts have touched on this, I thought I'd highlight media streaming from a NAS (if that is even a consideration for you).
If you want to stream Apple DRM'ed media (protected content you bought via iTunes, basically) then you really can't stream directly from the NAS without a Mac/PC running iTunes, as noted previously.
On the other hand, if you're planning to play your own movies stored on the NAS that you've already transcoded into iOS-compatible .mp4 files, then you want to look for a unit that supports the streaming protocol you decide to use. Currently the two most popular choices are UPnP/DLNA and SMB/CIFs shares.
For UPnP/DLNA you'll need a compatible player such as BUZZ Player HD or MLPlayer. (As an aside, XBMC is a great and free multitplatform UPnP/DLNA player for desktop machines)
Another option is that some player apps will allow streaming over SMB/CIFS shares, so you need an app that supports streaming over this type of fileshare. The tricky thing is that to properly support actual streaming (i.e. allowing your video to start playing immediately w/o having to download the entire movie file to the iPad first, scrubbing, etc) the embedded SMB server in the NAS must support it. How can you tell? It can be difficult, since not all NAS units reveal that type of info. One approach is to research the various media player apps and see if they list compatible NAS devices. Another way is to get the NAS first then just start trying a bunch of apps to see which ones work.
Anyway, hope this helps. I keep a bunch of the family's movies on a homebuilt NAS/media-server and it saves a huge amount space in not having to sync them onto the iPad just to watch.
Although a few posts have touched on this, I thought I'd highlight media streaming from a NAS (if that is even a consideration for you).
If you want to stream Apple DRM'ed media (protected content you bought via iTunes, basically) then you really can't stream directly from the NAS without a Mac/PC running iTunes, as noted previously.
On the other hand, if you're planning to play your own movies stored on the NAS that you've already transcoded into iOS-compatible .mp4 files, then you want to look for a unit that supports the streaming protocol you decide to use. Currently the two most popular choices are UPnP/DLNA and SMB/CIFs shares.
For UPnP/DLNA you'll need a compatible player such as BUZZ Player HD or MLPlayer. (As an aside, XBMC is a great and free multitplatform UPnP/DLNA player for desktop machines)
Another option is that some player apps will allow streaming over SMB/CIFS shares, so you need an app that supports streaming over this type of fileshare. The tricky thing is that to properly support actual streaming (i.e. allowing your video to start playing immediately w/o having to download the entire movie file to the iPad first, scrubbing, etc) the embedded SMB server in the NAS must support it. How can you tell? It can be difficult, since not all NAS units reveal that type of info. One approach is to research the various media player apps and see if they list compatible NAS devices. Another way is to get the NAS first then just start trying a bunch of apps to see which ones work.
Anyway, hope this helps. I keep a bunch of the family's movies on a homebuilt NAS/media-server and it saves a huge amount space in not having to sync them onto the iPad just to watch.
As an example, the Western Digital MWBE NAS a built in Twonky Media Server. I don't understand its capabilities and haven't really explored just what it can do but I think that it is a good illustration of what to look for. This actually supports iTunes but (sigh) only via an online PC I think.
Also, FileBrowser, iFiles etc will play pictures and media. I am not sure this counts as streaming. You certainly don't explicitly load the files onto the iPad but they may be temporarily downloaded.
OP
OP
Laban
iPF Noob
donka
iPF Novice
Many NAS devices offer an iTunes server feature that will do this.
Without this I'm unsure about how it works but in theory you should be able to just change the location of your iTunes library to the NAS. The issue without the iTunes server feature would be on how it is handled with more than one iTunes client accessing it.
Qnap have a App called Qmobile which works on iPhone / iPod Touch and iPad and allows you to connect to your Qnap NAS and access media (photos, music and video) either locally via your home wifi or via the Internet remotely if you want.
The interface is a little clunky but it works and works fairly well in my experience.
The interface is a little clunky but it works and works fairly well in my experience.
I picked up a WD My Book Live to go with a previously owned WDTV live. This turned out to be a good choice for me. I was successfully able to configure remote access with filebrowser app. It works great within the network as well as over the internet
Now i can access my NAS from anywhere, virtually increasing my ipad storage to 2TB
Now i can access my NAS from anywhere, virtually increasing my ipad storage to 2TB
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