Though iTunes may no longer be a big thing in the coming years due to the arrival of Apple Music, most of us still have a huge library of music, movies, and other forms of media saved in it. It’s basically your Mac’s version of the Swiss Knife: a jack of all trades kind of app but a master of none.
However, due to the sheer amount of files you may have, there will always come a time wherein you will need to offload some – or even most – of it to another drive. Though your best option is to transfer them to an external hard drive, it simply is not an option on a MacBook or a Mac equipped with a smaller, but faster, solid state drive (SSD).
- Oct 09, 2020 The Best NAS (Network Attached Storage) Devices for 2020. Networked storage is the most versatile storage, but that's just one of the many benefits of buying a NAS device.
- Network-attached storage (NAS) is a file-level (as opposed to block-level storage) computer data storage server connected to a computer network providing data access to a heterogeneous group of clients. NAS is specialized for serving files either by its hardware, software, or configuration. It is often manufactured as a computer appliance – a purpose-built specialized computer.
Apart from that though, you also have the option of using a network attached storage device, also called NAS. You can use a Wi-Fi connection, though an Ethernet cable is a plausible option as well.
With that said, here’s a guide to setting up iTunes on a network attached server (NAS).
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Picking the right NAS
Of course, the first step in setting up iTunes on a network server is to pick and buy one. These storage devices are frequently used in office and home networks and are usually connected together with computers USB cables, Ethernet, or through Wi-Fi.
Given our natural tendency to pick out the easiest option, your best bet is to choose ones that provide wireless transfers, like the Transporter or the Synology DiskStation. However, wired connections are generally faster and fortunately you have a lot of options.
Before you pay for one though, make sure that you’re aware of how much storage space you need. It wouldn’t make sense to pay for a thousand dollar, 32 terabyte NAS if you’re just going to end up using it alone and occupy a hundred gigabytes of storage. So, be sure to pick one according to your needs, given that you might end up using it to back up your other files as well.
If you have already picked an NAS device, set it up and it finally appears on the Finder, then your next course of action is to either move your iTunes folder or your just your media files.
Moving your entire iTunes folder
This process is pretty simple.
First, go to your home folder, which is likely named after you or a nickname you gave to your computer. you will then find the Music folder. This in turn contains your iTunes folder which also contains different support files and notably, the iTunes Media folder. In turn, it contains various folders which houses files like Music, TV Shows, Videos, e-Books, etc.
To move your iTunes folder, select the Music folder on the Finder and copy/drag it to the NAS and wait it out. If you have tons of files, expect it to go for at least a few hours or even overnight, especially if you’ve been downloading multimedia files regularly. Bear in mind that if your connection is slow, you might end up pulling several hairs on your head. Using a wired connection is faster though.
Moving your Media files
This one’s quite complicated, but doable within five minutes.
To move your media files, first launch iTunes and go to Preferences then select Advanced. After which, click the Change button next to the Media folder location. You will then be led to the Finder – your next move is to select the NAS, or a folder you created in advance.
Next, select File from the menu bar, go to Library, select Organize Library, then check Consolidate Files. What this does is command your Mac to immediately copy all the media files you have to the new assigned location. Considering that you’re transferring media files, this will take time.
Things to bear in mind
Congratulations, you have succeeded in setting up iTunes on a network attached server!
Before you jump for joy though, here are some reminders and some tips to help you out:
- After you successfully transfer all your files, you can access and use them like they are stored on your Mac.
- As long as your Mac is connected to the NAS, iTunes will use it as a library.
- Prior to transferring/copying your files to the NAS, it’s always best to create backups. This will ensure that you won’t end up losing them. Bear in mind things may go for the worst when you’re transferring your files – a blackout may occur or your network router might pick it as the best time to act all wonky.
Device By Mac Address
Remember, this is a must nowadays considering that file sizes are getting larger and Macs are getting thinner – the former is clearly outpacing the latter. Weigh your storage options wisely and be sure to pick the NAS that suits your current needs!
Mac Network Setup
How to temporary or permanently map a network drive on a Mac?
Network drive is probably the best alternative for work or home environments where more than one computer is used to share files between them. However, macOS can't automatically detect network devices, unlike installed hardware. So you need to manually install and set them up, afterwards you will need to map a network drive on your Mac. Mapping a network is a process, where you reveal the path to a storage device attached to a network.
There are two methods how to map your network drive on Mac. First would be for temporary use, where you loose your path to network drive after restart. The second would be a permanent one, where your Mac will detect and mount the network drive every time it connect to the same network with attached storage. Speaking about business, network storage usually comes in the form of server storage, SANs (storage area network), NAS (network attached storage) and cloud services. However, home users also can use the same technologies, but SANs requires higher budget, so NAS or cloud storage would be more efficient.
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What is a network drive?
In case you're not an experienced computer user, you probably wonder what actually is a network drive, although what SAN and NAS is and what is their differences and possibilities?
A network drive is basically any type of storage connected to your router. In most frequent cases these are made up of computers, who's acting like servers to provide storage. A NAS device might be either an external hard drive (even usb flash key) connected to your home router, either assigned NAS device builded with own hardware and multiple drives. However, storage connects to you router and permits to authorized users to reach it. A SAN is basically a more complicated NAS, that can have numerous drives available in same network. These are frequently used in enterprise.
How to temporary map a network drive
Using this method your network drive will be connected and mounted for one time use, which means that it will disappear if you disconnect from network or simply reboot your Mac.
First open Mac 0010OS Finder app, that press Command and K buttons to launch Connect to Server window. Enter the route to the network drive you desire to map, for example: smb://networkcomputer/networkshare and click Connect.
Enter your log in details and click OK to mount the network drive. From now till reboot your network drive will be shown on your desktop and in the Finder's window sidebar. You can access the network share like a usual folder at this point.
Map a network drive to Mac OS which automatically re-mounts after reconnection
Using this method will leave you an openings to reboot your Mac and keep the network drive mapped as well as network reconnections. Your Mac will automatically remounts the drive, so you will be able to find your desktop shortcut whenever you connect to network.
First open Mac 0010OS Finder app, that press Command and K buttons to launch Connect to Server window. Enter the route to the network drive you desire to map, for example: smb://networkcomputer/networkshare and click Connect.
Enter your log in details and click OK to mount the network drive. Once your drive is mounted, you need to enable automatic mounts, so open System Preferences from the Apple menu. Click on Users and Groups (or Accounts in older OS) and choose Login Items. Click on add (+) button to add another login item, locate the network drive you have mounted before and click Add. From now on your network drive will be mapped and automatically remounted every time you reboot your Mac.
However, if you disconnect or loose connection to network where the mapped network drive is located, it won't reconnect automatically until you reconnect to the network and reboot your computer. What is more, shared drive will be accessible through Finder as usual folder.
Make network drive accessible from Mac desktop
Good news that you may access your network drive through your Mac's desktop icon. Just follow several steps and create an icon which always appear on desktop when you connect to network.
First open Finder preferences from a menu bar in very top of you window, this appears when Finder is launched. Click the General tab and select the checkbox next to Connected Servers. This step ensure you to see the drives icon on your desktop, uncheck it and it will be only accessible in Finder window sidebars.
Mount a mapped network drive with a one click
There is a very useful additional step which allows you to create an alias of the mapped network drive, so you will be able to reconnect to the share with just one click. To create an alias, just right-click your mapped network drive icon on the desktop and select Make Alias. Once you've created alias just double-click it and your Mac reconnect to the network drive instantly. Need for speed download now. This is really useful, if you reconnecting to a network repeatedly.
Video Showing how to map a network drive on Mac:
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