Hey everybody, been a while since I posted here…
I’m trying to lay out my data backup plan and I’m trying to deal with iTunes. I have two laptops in the house, each running a seperate iTunes account and library. They are both connected to network via WiFi. I’m trying to determine the best way to store both of these libraries on the MBL. Is it possible to store two libraries and have them both accessible via the MBL?
I’ve read that I can transfer the music library to the MBL, then point iTunes to use that as the library instead of the local laptop library. Is this really a good idea? It seems that this strategy would create network lag when accessing the library in iTunes. Also, what if the MBL crashed for whatever reason? How would I keep a backup of the library to another drive on the network, say a USB hard drive connected to my router?
I feel that I’ve made this whole process difficult and confusing… please help!! Thanks!
Having done more research since my first post, I see that it is a common practice to move the itunes library to the NAS, and I’ve found the common procedure for doing this, OK. My question now is: Can I point the itunes library from two different laptops to the same common library folder on the NAS? And both of these laptops will update the library folder with added music files as they are added to either laptop? Or should I keep both libraries seperate on the NAS, and point each itunes library to the respective folder on the NAS for its own library?
Also, does having the itunes folder on the NAS cause a noticable lag when using itunes, such as playing music (which are now streaming from the NAS)?
Hi, yes, as far as I know you can use the same folder for both. MP3 are small files, so you should not notice any lag.
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Ok, great. So now my question is about data redundancy (the backup part of post subject).
Once I move both of our iTunes libraries over to the NAS, then delete them from the laptops, the NAS copies will be the only copies. This is worrisome… Especially when I do this with our video libraries (home videos, dvd rips, etc).
I’ve been reading that the MBL uses SafePoint to backup the data from the MBL to another drive. Can I use this to make periodic backups from the MBL to a USB drive connected to either my router or a desktop computer that is always on, or just another NAS?
If so, does this sound like a reasonable amount of protection for this music, as well as the other data that will be saved on the NAS?
I’m at work, so I’ll be home this evening to play around with the MBL, especially to see how the SafePoint works.
Thanks for your help!
