Backing up iTunes libaray to NAS

[Collector]

Ubertaffy's right.

iTunes + NAS + Mac = no problem. Provided you do it right. And back up!

[dkulash]

Apologies if this has been covered elsewhere -- I've been looking but haven't yet found. I am in sort of the same boat as several posters here. I'd like to have my itunes run locally on my laptop (and my wife's on hers), so that we can access our music while away from home, which for us is a lot of the time. However, I'd also like our sonos system to work while our computers are not online, so I've set up a NAS (a 1TB drive connected to a Time Machine). We'd like our local music libraries to automatically get dumped onto the NAS and show up in Sonos-land, and I am fine with this happening daily, as opposed to immediately when new music is added. We do not need any changes to the NAS to be reflected in our local libraries.

I am about to chase several leads I've found here, all of them file synching utilities. I'm assuming it's not too tough to find a utility that makes sure my NAS has a copy of every file in a certain location on my laptop. Has someone set up the perfect system that I can replicate?

I start to get confused imagining how it's all supposed to be organized. If I add a new, say, Beatles song to iTunes locally, it will go into the existing Beatles folder in my iTunes Media folder. If I want the file synching utility to notice there's a new song there and copy it to the Beatles folder on the NAS, does this mean synching every artist's folder, or can I synch the whole thing? What happens to music by artists that are new to me, and don't have an existing folder? Is it possible to have playlists automatically imported into the sonos universe? And is it possible to have playlists from my local itunes AND my wife's local itunes show up in sonos, since all of my music and hers should all on the NAS?

many thanks for any help

[vegit8]

Hi
There is a utility that does folder comparison called Goodsync.

You can configure it to compare folders in 2 locations (left and right). If you make your PC / Laptop based ITunes directories on the left side and the NAS shares on the right, goodsync will keep both sides equal.

Goodsync can be scheduled to compare at regular intervals.

I'm not sure what will happen if you try to update a single location on the right from duplicate locations on the left (your 2 laptops).

I am not good enough at SONOS yet to know how it will work if you point SONOS at 2 locations as its source (Laptop 1 and Laptop 2) - my guess is it will be ok, but will bow to superior knowledge.

I use goodsync at work for backups of our data (including offsite file transfer using secure FTP) so I can vouch for its abilities.
Its available for Mac and PC and if you dont create too many different backup jobs its free!

[Buegie]

Originally Posted by dkulash

Has someone set up the perfect system that I can replicate?

Any process will depend on how you currently organize your iTunes Library(s). There is much flexibility available within iTunes and therefore more complexity (and required knowledge) is introduced.

You’ve got several concepts/issues that you’ll need to better define (in your mind) as to how to manage/control the household music…

You appear to require three distinct music “repositories”: One on your Wife’s Laptop (WL); One on your laptop (HL); and One on the NAS. At least both WL and HL will be running as an iTunes managed Library. You may or may not want another distinct iTunes managed Library on the NAS (more on this later).

If all three repositories will be completely identical (organization style, music, metadata and Playlists) then syncing is relatively simple using any of the backup/syncing programs available. More than likely, HL and WL Libraries will be dissimilar, with the NAS holding a unique ‘Union’ of the two sets of music files. Playlists are another issue...

Syncing the repositories to the NAS may uncover some ‘timing’ and/or ‘organizational’ issues across HL and WL as:
1) If the metadata for a specific song is changed by each of you on any given NAS sync, you will need to choose which file should be updated on the NAS. An HL updated tag change will be overwritten by a subsequent WL tag change. A ‘Family’ discussion on precedence would be in order…
2) You can end up with duplicate song files on the NAS if the underlying songs on HL and WL are labeled/tagged differently – especially if iTunes organizes them into different Folders/SubFolders on each Laptop. This is more a data hygiene issue within and across both Laptops.

Those are more a personal and iTunes specific organizational issue you’ll possibly need to address before combining the two Libraries onto the NAS. Not really a direct Sonos issue, but with strong implications within Sonos if done ‘poorly’. Best to have a consistent iTunes Library organization across both Laptops (identical sets of music files are not required, though).

Setting up a syncing/backup program to copy new and/or changed files onto the NAS from HL and WL should be easy enough. More than likely, you would sync individually from HL and WL to the NAS, but not the other way – otherwise you’ll have WL distinct music files on HL, and HL distinct files on WL. This is a function of the syncing program you choose and not a Sonos issue (per se).

Any decent syncing program can be set to sync a ‘top-level’ Folder and all its Sub-Folders in one operation. Once the new/changed Laptop files are synced to the NAS, a re-index of the Sonos system will get them available to you within Sonos.

Having the iTunes Playlists from HL and WL show up and be usable within Sonos is a larger undertaking. It can be done, but it may require running a third distinct iTunes Library originating directly from the NAS, containing only those music files located on the NAS. This is how I run my music - Two distinct iTunes Libraries: a Laptop based Library (with music files on the Laptop’s HD and an ExHD); and a separate Sonos Library located on the NAS (with distinct iTunes Library database files on the NAS). Holding the ‘Shift’ key when opening iTunes will allow one to choose a different Library (something to read-up on via the Apple FAQs if you are not familiar with this option).

For me, this is an easier management concept to implement. YMMV. Since I only moved one pre-existing iTunes Library to the NAS (rather than your two Libraries), cloning the Library files onto the NAS and then culling them down within iTunes was an easy job that kept all my Playlists intact. I do not believe that there is an easy way to combine two distinct iTunes Libraries and keep the Playlists you want. This is an iTunes question better answered on the Apple Forums.

At the very least, you should be able to export the additional required Playlists from one Laptop and import them into the NAS iTunes Library. You’ll need to do a bit of cleanup and re-org, but if planned correctly, this should not be too hard.

You’ll need to get comfortable with the concepts and implementation specifics first, then apply it to your unique Library situation. All of us manage out iTunes Library slightly differently, so any step-by-step instructions from me would be less than useful.

Globally, you’ll need to organize a NAS iTunes Library, keep it updated with music additions and changes (both on the NAS and within iTunes separately), and transfer/update Playlists from HL and WL that are required on Sonos.

You are really working across (minimally) three separate programs: Sonos, iTunes and a Syncing Program. You have to be conversant (or better) with each of them. It’s not that difficult, but that’s my opinion. What you’re asking to do is conceptually easy, but has pitfalls in implementation if one is sloppy or careless. As always, making complete backups of your whole Libraries on HL and WL is paramount before you start playing around with iTunes – this includes the all-important iTunes database files (5 of them).

For me, the longest time amount would be the music file copy process from HL and WL to the NAS. Once all music files are resident on the NAS, I would probably need 1-3 hours to clone and merge the two iTunes Libraries. Prep-ing both Libraries (HL and WL) prior to the NAS copy could be time-consuming depending on how well you’ve kept the Libraries (or not). Data hygiene within iTunes libraries is notoriously poor – at least based on my time spent on the Apple Forums. I would suspect (and hope) that Sonos owners are a few notches above the general iTunes user…. Once again, YMMV.

Post back if more information/guidance is required.

Best of Luck