NAS vs. NDAS

[M A V I C]

1. Is the iTunes/iPhoto stored on this device going to be backed up on another device?
2. What's "ACLs"?

- What kind of speed are you looking for?
- You're going to have multiple users reading and writing to the same iTunes and iPhoto libraries?

[Buzz]

[quote M A V I C]
2. What's "ACLs"?
it's those things in athlete's knees that get hurt and require season-ending surgery...
anterior cruciate ligament

[deckeda]

I envision backing it up by attaching a FW drive to a local Mac, or using a two-drive NAS box and the second drive be the backup. Somehow.

ACLs are Access Control Lists, Unix, but available in OS X since Tiger. They allow more fine-tuned control over file permissions than does the Finder. Specifically, they are the only way to completely allow multiple users on one Mac to seamlessly share the same iTunes or iPhoto Library such that when one user makes a change or deletion, the other can not only see that change or deletion but also perform their own.

So yeah multiple users read and write to the same library without screwing up the other users. Even better, each user retains their own application prefs. It's only the libraries that are shared. Been doing this for the last 3 years or so between two users on the same Mac because my wife and share all the same music and photos. iTunes and iPhoto libraries are on another hard disk.

http://ad.hominem.org/log/2005/07/acl.php <<< old thread, and it says it doesn't work with iTunes but it does.

Edit: Caveat: Only one instance of iTunes or iPhoto may be running at one time. So if my wife forgets and leaves iTunes running and I switch over to my account, I can't launch iTunes unless I first go back and Quit iTunes in her account.

With both of us sharing the same Mac that's not a real hardship. If we get our own Macs, which might happen soon, it could be more of an issue. I also see the day when we'll want music in the living room without shutting out the other downstairs wishing to hear something different.

Blazing speed isn't very important. Last weekend I had a 350Mhz G3 (but with a 7200rpm drive) share its iTunes over 802.11g and it was very fast when accessing songs on the other Mac. If a NAS can do that, it'll be plenty fast.

[tahoedrew]

I don't know much about it, but you're doing exactly what I want to do! Haven't had the money or time to buy/play with options, but early next year I'll be experimenting with doing iTunes/iPhoto sharing (just as you describe it, but with two computers, both used exclusively by me) via a B&W G3/400MHz. If that doesn't work I'll go to a NAS/NDAS like you're trying to do. The thing the B&W gives me is the ability to get 3 or 4 HD's inside the case so I can RAID two of them and use the other two for backups.

~A

[Silencio]

i've been using the predecessor to this particular NAS model and been very happy with every aspect of it. Not the cheapest NAS on the block, but packed with well-implemented and Mac-friendly features.

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.as...6822110034

I just need to get a gigabit ethernet switch that supports jumbo frames to crank out a little more network throughput from the thing.

And yes, this NAS enclosure (and my older one) support AFP 3, so I don't have to worry about filenames getting messed up when I copy stuff from my Macs over to the NAS. I think read/write performance is supposed to be better than AFP 2, as well.

For what you're doing, I don't think you really need ACLs: can't you do the same thing by assigning both users to the same group? That works just fine for the two of us here.

[deckeda]

Thanks, Silencio, that looks pretty cool. I like the GigE and SATA too! I haven't yet done my homework as to whether or not ACLs are needed here.

Not quite clear on what you mean by "assigning both users to the same group." A networking thing, or file sharing thing you mean?

tahoedrew, I was thisclose to using my G3 but have decided against it for two main reasons. One, if it's running iTunes and serving it out, it needs to stay current. It'd be OK today, but one day it won't run the same iTunes the clients will. Two is energy use. I did some homework here, and a G3 doesn't use a lot of power but it uses more than a NAS. Other Mac options that would be low power such as a laptop or mini that would stay current are overkill (and expensive) for this task.