I have just bought a server and at the moment planning to see what I can do with it. My main purpose is to build a media server (with Raid 1) and then access those media from other computers in the house including the TV. That’s bring my question so here it goes. Please advise:
- Does Apple TV (new or old, I don’t have one yet but I’ll buy one if it does what I need it for) read media files for a NAS or Windows server?
- I want a small form factor for a streaming device that I’ll connect to my TV hence I am considering Apple TV.
- What’s my best choice of a server/media server setup that can be shared across from Mac and Windows PCs?
Answer:
1. No
2. –
3. AppleTV can only stream from an open iTunes library on a turned on computer in your household. So, if you have “The Waterboy” movie in your iTunes library, and iTunes is turned on, and Home Sharing is turned on, then, and only then, can AppleTV stream “The Waterboy” and play it on your TV. The solution for this is to setup any type of media server, network attached server, or directly attached server/harddrive and host your iTunes library on that drive. For example, I bought a Western Digital MyBook Thunderbolt Duo (2 x 3TB drives) and I host my iTunes library on that, so that means all my music, movies, tv shows, everything, is stored on that drive, and not on the main drive of my Mac. iTunes makes this a seamless and completely easy process, and it works flawlessly.