what is the BEST way to share itunes files from a file server?
I have a 1TB RAID-5 file server on my home network (the server runs its own proprietary OS). The computers are running a mix of Win2000 Pro and XP Pro and I also have a MacBook Pro running OS X.
I'd like to put all the music that is currently on my, my wife's, and my kid's computers onto the file server and be able to share playlists across the computers.
Apple has made this seemingly simple task quite complex.
I'm not looking to rip anyone off here, the music is bought and paid for, we'd only be sharing amongst our own ipods and fully compliant with the terms of service and the DRM agreement.
Has anyone succeeded in making this work?
The challenge here is that the server runs its own embedded proprietary OS. It's not possible make it into an FTP server as far as I can tell. I certainly can't figure out how to load an alternative OS on it and Iomega isn't talking.
The server can be set up to allow permissions to access directories.
The problem is that itunes localizes playlists on the host that is running the itunes software, which in this case is actually a client to the file server. So if I make changes to a playlist on one computer, I can't access/synchronize these to other computers.