Windows® Home Server Bible

Chapter 29. Configuring Music Players

IN THIS CHAPTER

• Using an iPod

• Installing iTunes

• Sharing your iTunes library

• Keeping iTunes synced with library changes

• Sharing iTunes music from the server

• Adding network shares to Zune

• Ripping songs to the server

If you enjoy music, you probably have a portable music player, perhaps even two or more. Even if you don't, if you are in a household with several people, it's a good bet that at least someone in the house does.

The mp3 revolution of the early 2000s has caused a sea of change in the way people listen to their music. We used to be tied to our CD collections and tape copies, and we were constantly scattering our music collection between the home stereo, the car, and portable players. No longer — all of that has been replaced by a device that can hold multiple gigabytes worth of music files, all that fits in our shirt pockets and can be played anywhere we are.

For a family that owns multiple music players, however, a new problem has arisen. Everybody has their own music library on their own computer, without any simple way of sharing songs. This can be wasteful, as multiple copies of individual songs take up a lot of space on each computer.

You are probably wondering if you can use Windows Home Server with your portable music player, and if there is any advantage to doing so. The answer, of course, is yes, you certainly can, especially if you are willing to take the time to set things up to work properly. In this chapter, we'll show you how to take ...