Complete replacement for iTunes , also "file manager" for iOS devices

A NAS does not impact the network. I ran a Synology DS-215+ with 2TB in drive storage and a 4TB drive on it attached as eSATA for backup. If anything it improved network performance, since everything stored on it was synced to cloud storage and still shared iTunes media through family sharing. Somewhere in my pictures on here is a shot of what my network was and the setup.

Now with 1000/50 Internet, better cellular data connections and devices, there is no need to have all of that gear on my network. Especially with 1TB of Onedrive cloud storage if needed and all of the other cloud storage for associated apps that are available. You may have to use multiple apps for eBooks, but if you wish to strip DRM to have offline books, you do what you need to do for how you use your devices and network.

Chris635 said:

There is a change coming for itunes, you may find a nas MIGHT be suitable.

RIP, iTunes. This is what happens to your Apple music now - CNET


I use this, its not free.

JRiver Media Center software

iTunes is not dead. It has been renamed to Apple Music. Everything is still there under the hood.

bro67 said:

A NAS does not impact the network. I ran a Synology DS-215+ with 2TB in drive storage and a 4TB drive on it attached as eSATA for backup. If anything it improved network performance, since everything stored on it was synced to cloud storage and still shared iTunes media through family sharing. Somewhere in my pictures on here is a shot of what my network was and the setup.

Now with 1000/50 Internet, better cellular data connections and devices, there is no need to have all of that gear on my network. Especially with 1TB of Onedrive cloud storage if needed and all of the other cloud storage for associated apps that are available. You may have to use multiple apps for eBooks, but if you wish to strip DRM to have offline books, you do what you need to do for how you use your devices and network.

Guys,

I appreciate all the advice about getting a NAS, but first I need to upgrade my primary desktop system. A new MB/CPU/GPU/RAM for a "Photoshop killer" system will probably set me back about US $1500, especially with the tariffs that are now coming into effect.

My home office is already pretty crowded, with two desktops with external WiFi antennas, two printers, and shelves full of bins for extra cables, USB sticks, etc, and a stack of drives for my "offline" backup by year, plus several shelves for DSLR gear, plus 4 file cabinets. I'm not sure that I have the space for a NAS box, and I would need an OK from "she who is always obeyed."

Removing DRM from books is simply not an issue. My desktop is housed in a Corsair 800D case, which has 6 slots for 3 1/2" drives, plus 2 free drive bays, which can hold more drives. If I really wanted go to hell with myself, I would get 14 TB Seagate drives.

My motherboard still has 2 slots open, and I could put SATA port cards in those slots.

Maybe someday I'll go for the NAS. Did I already mention that I "need" a new DSLR body, probably this for another $3K: Nikon D850 DSLR Camera (D850 Camera Body) B&H Photo

jimbo45 said:

Hi folks

If you decide to go with PLEX then download from the site -- if you download from the Ms Store site you just get what seems to be a rather hobbled Client version and not the server ---that used to be the case -it may have changed by now.

Plex is OK for music - it's a pain for movies etc when you need subtitles so I stick with Kodi --but either of these are OK for the purposes I think the OP wanted -- you can run these from your PC as servers without needing a NAS - just ensure that you have extra HDD space (or external shareable drives) for holding multi-media on local devices. The disadvantage of a PC based solution though is that unless you transfer music / content over to the client device you need to have the PC "always on" -- a bit of a nuisance if you travel around a lot.

NAS systems are designed to be on 24/7 with minimal power consumption. You can even "Roll your own" by using a really old 2nd hand cheap server server --you don't need mega horsepower, huge amount of RAM or graphics for this or even fast HDD's --you aren't building a desktop PC or a workstation !!! -- decent network card is all that's required. You could probably pick up a used server with a Mobo, CPU, some RAM , power supply and 1 / 2 lan ports for around 160 USD -- add your own HDD's, install a Linux distro with the music servers and access the server from phone / pc or whatever via VNC or RDP - so you don't even need keyboard, mouse or a screen !!!. For Wifi access plug the server lan into a switch and connect the switch via a lan cable to wifi extender -most wifi extenders have a few Lan ports on them too -- much better than fiddling with USB --> Wifi adapters - especially if using a Linux distro . The OS on the NAS sees the setup as standard ethernet ports.

Cheers
jimbo

I'm the OP in this thread, and all I wanted was a replacement for iTunes that connects with the Drive E on each system, for me and my wife. The Drive E on each system stores for all kinds of media, including the iTunes backup library. All we need is for some iTunes replacement that allows us to connect our iPhones and iPads to the iTunes backup library on Drive E, but without iTunes. My wife also wants to be able to move photos that I took,or that she took but are no longer on her phone, back to her phone, because it serves as a portable photo album. We also need to manage apps, Apple DRM and non-DRM books, podcasts, etc.

Right now we don't have any full-length movies downloaded, so there is no need for a centralized media server. Right now my plate is full with planning and then building a "Photoshop killer" replacement for my current desktop. With the AMD Ryzen CPUs and graphics cards coming on strong, and the possibility of water-cooling, there are a lot of decisions. Building a NAS would have to come later.