Airport Time Capsule?
Posted by: Prof on 24 December 2014
Hello, and Happy Christmas!
I'm a newbie here so forgive me if this question has been asked numerous times before but...
I have a Naim MuSo (very nice indeed) and an apple iMac that I'm currently using Playback to stream my iTunes library as a UPnP for the muso.
However, I have thousands of CDs that'd like to add to my iTunes library and clearly the iMac isn't going to be big enough. So, I was looking at an external streaming device / external hard drive for the iMac.
Has anyone used the Apple Airport Time Capsule (up to 3TB space) as an external device for streaming? Can anyone who has dabbled in apple streaming recommend a solution? I don't really want to faff about about with a Mac mini as that strikes me as i) too difficult and ii) not big enough. I don't want to sound a snob but i'd rather stick with apple if possible….
Prof, I know of no way to use a Time Capsule as a UPnP server. I know of no servers that can be installed on it.
The Time Capsule is a specialized device that does what it does . . . and acting as a media server is not one of the things it's designed to do.
You could just get a NAS which is both time machine compatible and able to act as a UPnP server. There are many devices that would fit the bill. Merry Christmas.
Hi although the TimeCapsule is a NAS, you can't run other applications on it such as a UPnP/DLNA media server. So you could run a UPnP server elsewhere such as on a Windows or Mac PC and mount the TimeCapsule to use as storage and store your media on it. However there are more suited NAS's out here for this purpose.
Simon
I have a couple of network attached storage devices (NAS) on the same network as my Mac and it's a doodle to tell iTunes to use those as the main storage for iTunes.
You can the stream directly to your Muso without filling the hard drive of your Mac.
Each of my hard drives cost me around £100 about 18 months ago.
I can also use these NAS drives as TimeMachine back-ups.
I've toyed with using the mini
Mac but it's a bit of sledge hammer to crack a nut - a 1TB mini is ~£550 compared to 2TB time capsule at half the price. I'll look into other NAS but I fear I'm on steep learning curve having just relinquished the last of my vinyl...
Prof, I know of no way to use a Time Capsule as a UPnP server. I know of no servers that can be installed on it.
The Time Capsule is a specialized device that does what it does . . . and acting as a media server is not one of the things it's designed to do.
You don't need to bother with (the hilariously named) UPnP. Just set iTunes to use the TimeCapsule HD as its drive. But I wouldn't do this, however. The Timecapsule drive is designed for, and should be reserved for, backup duties. I'd attach a USB or Thunderbolt drive directly to your Mac and use that. We use a combination of the local drives and now a 3TB USB "overflow" drive directly attached to our Mini. iTunes is set to save all new stuff to the 3TB drive, but the library "remembers" that there is still stuff on the local Mini drives. It is seamless.
Prof, I know of no way to use a Time Capsule as a UPnP server. I know of no servers that can be installed on it.
The Time Capsule is a specialized device that does what it does . . . and acting as a media server is not one of the things it's designed to do.
You don't need to bother with (the hilariously named) UPnP. Just set iTunes to use the TimeCapsule HD as its drive. But I wouldn't do this, however. The Timecapsule drive is designed for, and should be reserved for, backup duties. I'd attach a USB or Thunderbolt drive directly to your Mac and use that. We use a combination of the local drives and now a 3TB USB "overflow" drive directly attached to our Mini. iTunes is set to save all new stuff to the 3TB drive, but the library "remembers" that there is still stuff on the local Mini drives. It is seamless.
The OP, Prof, mentioned that he's using Playback on his Mac at the moment, so I assume he's looking for another UPnP solution. He could connect his Mac Mini directly to the Muso, and use Remote to control iTunes from an iPhone or iPad, yes! But if he doesn't want to site his Mini next to his Muso, I think he needs a UPnP solution.
I'm confused. Why don't you just use AirPlay ?
Airplay is well and good for the odd track, but ultimately it uses a lot of resource especially if you are using a phone.
In this particular situation the obvious answer is a little ripping solution.
If you have a space somewhere for a small form factor pc to live then I would be looking at getting and dell optiplex 370 or 380 in the medium size (they come in three sizes). These are last generation PCs. They run nice and quiet (Although I would not have them anywhere near hifi) and can be picked up for as little as 50 quid.
Install a couple of harddrives in them and leave the dvd rom in there. Install Daphile music server or if you are more adventurous Vortexbox and you are set. Plug the Pc into the mains and the network, no need for a screen or keyboard etc. Rip you cds by inserting them and wait for them to spit back out.
You now have a full music server dishing out tunes to your network for around £150 with harddrives.
Since I'm new to this, does this mean that iTunes will simply use the WD as extra space or can i do far more with WD? Is AirPlay specifi to the hardware or software. I.e can I run AirPlay from the WD using something different to iTunes cutting out the 'middle man' - the iMac?
From what I can gather, RAID 1 is using the dual drives as two identical storage devices with duplicated data- I lose half my storage capacity but it's backed up within?
Raid is not a back up full stop.
I would mirror the drives with one backing up to the other on a scheduled basis. But better still a back up somewhere not near the NAS.
Further more I would go with my post above 
Either way I don't rate WD at all, qnap or synology if you want a NAS. Or better still build your own one with a proliant and OpenMediaVault, giving you twice the ram/CPU etc tham a similar priced NAS.
The more I read the more confused I get. If I were you I would get your basic question answered. Then worry about back-up. Once you say the dreaded RAID word on this forum the discussion just goes off to another world.
I am reasonably certain airplay is embedded in the iOS or laptop/desktop apple software. You can use the iMac, simply google how to use a hard drive to store your music in iTunes, then the WD or whatever will store all the music and iTunes will play music from the WD (which is connected to the mac) just as it would when you stored music on your computer. I don't think that using airplay you could steam from your hard drive to the MuSo. You would need some sort of UPnP I guess on the MuSo.
Once you say the dreaded RAID word on this forum the discussion just goes off to another world.
Because helpful people here try to help others not lose their entire library of files when their RAID setup fails, as hard drives inevitably do, and they were not backing up because they thought that the RAID setup was making automatic backups.
This needs to be said every few weeks or months.
Prof, I know of no way to use a Time Capsule as a UPnP server. I know of no servers that can be installed on it.
The Time Capsule is a specialized device that does what it does . . . and acting as a media server is not one of the things it's designed to do.
You don't need to bother with (the hilariously named) UPnP. Just set iTunes to use the TimeCapsule HD as its drive. But I wouldn't do this, however. The Timecapsule drive is designed for, and should be reserved for, backup duties. I'd attach a USB or Thunderbolt drive directly to your Mac and use that. We use a combination of the local drives and now a 3TB USB "overflow" drive directly attached to our Mini. iTunes is set to save all new stuff to the 3TB drive, but the library "remembers" that there is still stuff on the local Mini drives. It is seamless.
The OP, Prof, mentioned that he's using Playback on his Mac at the moment, so I assume he's looking for another UPnP solution. He could connect his Mac Mini directly to the Muso, and use Remote to control iTunes from an iPhone or iPad, yes! But if he doesn't want to site his Mini next to his Muso, I think he needs a UPnP solution.
I missed the bit about him using Playback. But my advice might still hold. He has an iMac. If iTunes and Asset are working for him, why not simply just plug an extension drive (USB or Thunderbolt) into the iMac and use that? iTunes library management now seems to cope OK with multiple drives (or at least it does for me).
see