Jukebox Server Help

djgaryn

I currently have a home dedicated touchscreen jukebox (Custom made C#)(Similar to Touch Tunes) It plays both MP3 and MP4 files. The files are currently stored locally on the computers hard drive.
When the program opens it is mapped via an XML file to a folder which contains sub-folders (ie. Artist and Albums).
This then populates a screen with a bunch of album images. when these are selected another page is opened showing song tracks. Once selected, the songs are put into queue they play through a custom media player (Modified WMP). OK Now the problem, my friend wanted one as well. but I would like to have central library of MP3 and MP4's so both jukebox's have the same media. How can I have a secure folder share via internet without having to access 3rd party programs and passwords every time we turn the jukebox's on (Basically a secure mapped drive)? I will also need to be able to stream the MP4's without lag (NO 4K).
I own a Synology NAS 218 if this helps in any way. I have been all over the internet and I am now lost. I have looked at WebDAV but I am not sure how to go about using it correctly. I am will to look at any good options (but don't want to spend a fortune) Any Help....Thanks.

mickevh

A VPN (Virtual Private Network) would be one way to connect the two sites together to form a secure, private communications channel. Note this is a different form of VPN than that is being touted as "secure Internet" and "geo locking evasion" sold by VPN service providers.

Ideally, I'd have the VPN tunnel endpoints vested on the routers in each location, but not all routers offer such functionality and there's other ways to do it (for example, your NAS may have a VPN server app.) Usually, there's credentials involved in establishing (and if it goes down re-establishing) a VPN link, but it's often automatable - set it up once and forget about it.

That will provide you with the communications channel, then it's up to your software as to how it interacts - but you should be able to map an (old fashioned) drive handle or UNC path over such a channel.

We can get into the details if you are interested - for example you might need to ensure both sites use different IP subnets if you create a router-to-router VPN tunnel, maybe not if you use a VPN Server on your NAS. You may also need to sign up to a Dynamic DNS (DDNS) service and register a couple of (DNS) domain names so your and your friend can "find" each other on the Internet. Both will cost a bit of money, (annually,) but not much.

All streaming (indeed, all data networking,) involves a degree of "lag" (called "latency" in proper data networking speak) as all packet switching networks introduce latency at every "hop" along the pathway between source and sink devices - it's fundamental to how such technology works, it simply cannot be eliminated entirely. The goal is to design/manage latency to an acceptable level. When using a heterogeneous network that you don't own or control (ie the Internet) there's very little you can do about it unless you want to spend huge amounts of money with service providers for guaranteed minimum performance levels. Most people prefer to "just live with it" in a quid pro quo for cheap Internet service.

cjed

Another possible approach would be to store the files on a cloud storage service (such as Google Drive, Microsoft Onedrive, AWS S3 etc.) and have your device(s) periodically sync them to local storage (rather than try and stream over the internet). Credentials to access the service would still be required. This would also allow operation (with a possibly out-of-date set of media) when not actually connected to the internet.

Markr123

I have a smallish iTunes library <1Tb. I have a Sonos system at my house and at a holiday home. I put a basic Synology NAS at both sites. At the main home, the synology syncs with my O365 OneDrive periodically. Every night, the remote site NAS pulls down the changes for the remote sonos system to access. Works well!

next010

If this jukebox runs WMP then it must be running Windows underneath the custom shell interface, if you can get access to that..

1) On Synology DSM create a basic user account restricted to the music folder only (control panel\shared folders can restrict permissions).
2) Set up Synology Drive Station with internet access (formally Cloudstation).
3) Install the desktop Synology Drive client on the new Jukebox system, set it to auto run on startup too.
4) Login to your new music user account via the PC Syno Drive client.
5) Have it sync the music to a local folder on the PC (you can set it one way or both).

That will keep it always in sync with the NAS music folder, if set to both I would have a backup of that music folder using the built in backup systems of the NAS in case something gets deleted as that drive client will reflect any changes made on it's end back to the NAS.