Ethernet Wireless Hard Drive Music Server

I've been researching this. It would be nice if something like this worked, since the price is right, but I don't think this will be fast enough to do what you want, since you will be using the ethernet drive as a wireless server for your music, rather than just streaming from one computer to the airport (like airtunes over an airport express). I considered hooking up a 500GB USB drive to the new Airport Extreme (basically the same as what you're proposing), but I decided against it after reading several reports on the internet of people having trouble using the Airport Extreme as an iTunes server. If you are thinking about hooking up the external drive directly to the laptop, make sure you take into account hard drive noise.

Please let me know how this works out. Although I haven't pulled the trigger yet, the best solution I've found so far for a 500GB music library (with built-in backup and room to expand to 2.25TB in RAID 5) is to buy an Infrant ReadyNAS NV+ and hard wire it to a giga-ethernet router (10/100/1000) in a media/LAN closet. It isn't a cheap solution, but it is very robust, fast and secure.

Thanks for the input, Morris. I've been using external drives for over a year, both USB and Firewire, without a hiccup (well, one or two, but it's very rare and very brief). So that is not an issue as far as I'm concerned. I've been using Lacie D2 Extreme drives and the noise has not been an issue for me, though it is there it's pretty minimal. There have been some reports of drive failure, especially with the cheaper Lacie drives. My good friend had an Extreme drive fail on him. I've had good luck with them as have a few other friends. There are no guarantees, as I'm sure you are aware. The OWC (Other World Computing) Mercury Elite Pro drives have a good reputation, but the one I've heard is pretty loud, and I don't think they have an Ethernet version (they actually sell Lacie's drives for that).

As far as the Ethernet drive, again, thanks for that input. You certainly may have something there. There is, I think, one difference in that, and correct me if I am wrong, Airport Express uses the 802.11B convention, while my Aiport Base Station and Airport Extreme card stream info in 802.11G which is significantly faster. This is why it would be helpful to get input from someone doing exactly what I am proposing to do. So let me know if I'm off base, but there is that difference.

Thanks again for this, and any further input.

Marco

The Airport Express is 802.11g.

If you are planning to use the Lacie as a USB 2.0 anyway, then it is probably worth a try as a wireless ethernet drive. Please report back with your results. Just keep in mind that it will be dramatically slower than a USB 2.0 hard drive connection. If you are ok with this, then it may work for you. Sorry, I haven't tried any of this out. Hopefully, someone else out there can help.

In my research, I found the discussion board on www.infrant.com helpful as well as the information on www.smallnetbuilder.com.

Check out slimdevices. Both the squeezebox and the Transporter are built for wireless music.

Check out slimdevices. Both the squeezebox and the Transporter are built for wireless music.

Thanks, but I don't think either of those are storage devices (which is primarily what I'm looking for here). I don't need a DAC nor a wireless base station. I'm looking for a network server (storage device that holds the actual music files) that I can access wirelessly via laptop. I don't want to have my music library always tethered to my computer, and it's too big to store on the laptop's hard drive (currently my library is 300gb). The Airport Base Station does a fine job at streaming the wireless signal, and iTunes is a great interface (I don't mind using the laptop). I love my DAC, and the Waveterminal U24 does a fine job at reclocking and converting the signal. I don't need a remote (though the modern Macs all have one - my Wife's iMac has one). I don't think either device you suggested is capable of streaming at a higher rate than the Mac Airport stuff. They are all using 802.11G technology so none will move the digits any faster, right?

Anyway, good idea if you're looking for what those devices are capable of. I have no experience with either, but haven't heard much to recommend the Squeezbox as being anything more than adequate as a DAC (that's been at least two audiophile friend's experience with them). I have heard nothing good or bad about the Transporter. It's $2k so I hope it's a very fine DAC. Do you have experience with it? Please correct me if I'm missing a significant detail here that these devices offer, or if your experience has been vastly different. Thanks for the input!

Marco