So I have this OpenFiler NAS in the basement now and I want to put my MP3s on it and serve them to multiple computers around the house. (See this, this and this.)
I had been ripping my CDs into iTunes onto the drive in my laptop and then copying the directory structure to the OpenFiler. This is sub-optimal for several reasons:
- It’s difficult to keep them synced up.
- I have about 18GB of space for MP3s on my laptop and 135GB of space on the OpenFiler.
- iTunes doesn’t know about the files on the OpenFiler, so they don’t show up in my laptop’s library after I copy them over.
So that’s no good.
Number 1 could be solved with rsync – and I have just installed Cygwin so I could use their rsync utility.
Number 2 is not a big issue, really.
Number 3 was the show-stopper as far as I was concerned.
Then I used my head, searched with Google and found Libra.
Libra is a very simple application that allows you to create, use and manage multiple iTunes music libraries. Normally, iTunes has only one library, and you can create playlists and groups within this unique library. However, some users have reported that iTunes slows down noticeably when the library becomes large, and other users would like to simply categorize their music in separate sets. This is what Libra allows you to do safely.
Libra is shareware, not free, but it’s only $10. It seems to work okay so far, and it’s just nagware, so I’ll run it a bit before I send in the money, but if it works well, it’s worth it.
So the new plan (which I am executing as I type this) is to create a new library on the OpenFiler, make it the active library and import all the MP3s into it.
After that’s done, I can change back to the library on the laptop drive and delete a bunch of songs to make more disc space.
I can also rip my CDs directly into the library that is on the OpenFiler from now on and I should be good to go!
Pretty slick.
I should also be able to export or copy the iTunes Library files to other machines, assuming I mount the OpenFiler on the same drive letter. We’ll have to see how that goes later.
