INTERACT FORUM
More => Old Versions => Media Center 13 (Development Ended) => Topic started by: doubleonad on September 30, 2008, 04:35:42 pm
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First of all, my apologies if this has already been discussed. I searched but did not find anything.
Would it be possible for MC to automatically discover library servers on your network? Both iTunes and Windows Media Player have this functionality, and would love to see it implemented here.
As it stands, you can manually search for them, but it would be great to see them automatically pop up. I don't know how resource intensive a process like this would be. I imagine it just requires some sort of broadcasting component, for a library server to announce its presence on the network. I think this is what Bonjour does with iTunes.
I discussed another use for it here:
http://yabb.jriver.com/interact/index.php?topic=48048.0
Basically it's talking about remote library access over simple VPN software (Hamachi). It would be a good way for people who don't know how to configure their firewalls to gain remote access to their media. Also, it would let you keep connecting to your library server if your IP address changes (either due to DHCP on your router or a change from your ISP).
Let me know if you need me to elaborate.
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Are you asking for:
File > Library > Search For Library Servers
to be run automatically in the background and a popup to be shown when a library is found?
Or is there more to it than making the existing tool more automatic?
Thanks.
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not sure if my question goes here or not.. but curious is 13 now allows for searching for library servers while on the road?
I'd like to be able to be on the road and connect to my jriver server at home and chose which library i want to connect to. Is this possible yet? Or would J river still only connect to the library that is open at the home location?
Thank You.
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It's possible to connect from anywhere, but your router needs to be set to pass packets. Take a look at this page (http://wiki.jrmediacenter.com/index.php/Library_Server) on our Wiki, especially the bottom of the page.
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I think xtacy is asking if the library server can host more than one library at a time.
As far as I'm aware this is still not possible.
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shoot. :'( thanks for the reply guys.. Def a feature I'm hoping to see someday :)
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Are you asking for:
File > Library > Search For Library Servers
to be run automatically in the background and a popup to be shown when a library is found?
Or is there more to it than making the existing tool more automatic?
Thanks.
That's part of it.
The other part I'm looking for is a way for the library server itself to broadcast across subnets, as described above with the iTunes situation. I'll try to provide a more detailed explanation.
Let's say you have User A and User B.
Example 1:
If both Users are on the same network, and have iTunes configured to share their media, they will automatically see each other's libraries on the sidebar in their iTunes client.
Example 2:
If user A has iTunes running, and would like to share his library with User B, who is not on his home network, they can set up a VPN using Hamachi. This puts the 2 of them on a network with each other, connected via Hamachi's servers over the internet. Once they are connected, the exact same functionality in Example 1 works. Everything is automatic.
http://i34.tinypic.com/1zch9xd.jpg
Example 3:
User A and User B both have Hamachi installed, and User A has his Library Server turned on in MC. User B does a search for library servers, and it doesn't find anything. User B can, however, manually add a library server using the 5.X.X.X IP address provided by Hamachi. (Both users are on the 5.X network together)
Once they add the library server manually, everything works the same way that it would if User A had configured his firewall to allow incoming connections to his server.
Now here's my speculation:
I believe the reason Example 2 works is because of Apple's Bonjour service. I think it is broadcasting the shared library so it is found by other iTunes clients, regardless of what subnet they are using. As long as is there is some sort of connection between the 2 computers, it works.
I realize that Hamachi is not your product, and you're not really concerned with compatibility between your software and theirs. I also realize that the majority of your users probably don't use Hamachi. I'm just using it and iTunes as an example of new functionality you could implement.
Anyway, the short answer to your question is "Yes. A more automatic version of the existing tool would be great." But, a broadcast service would be icing on the cake.
Thanks for your time.
-Dano