Drobo How-To Guide · Drobo How-To Guide Streaming Music from a Drobo 5N to a Sonos Wireless Hi-Fi System drobo.com | Streaming Music from a Drobo 5N to a Sonos Wireless Hi-Fi System

Drobo How-To Guide Streaming Music from a Drobo 5N to a Sonos Wireless Hi-Fi System

drobo.com | Streaming Music from a Drobo 5N to a Sonos Wireless Hi-Fi System 1

Sonos is one of the most popular systems for streaming music in the home. It can access a wide variety of Internet radio stations, music subscriptions services, and also your own music on a computer or storage device.

In this guide, we’ll show you how to put your music on a Drobo and stream it to Sonos. I’m using a Drobo 5N as an example, but you could also use other network-attached Drobos or even a direct-attached Drobo connected to a always-on computer in your home (like a Mac Mini server).

Topics Home Networking Basics Put Music on the Drobo Setup the Sonos System Configure Sonos to Access Music Play Music

What You Will Need • A computer running Mac OSX or Windows • NAS Drobo (5N, FS, B800FS) or DAS Drobo connected to a computer • Sonos Player (Sonos Bridge Optional) • Sonos application for Mac or Windows • Music Files



Home Networking Basics To stream music throughout your home, you need a network and an Internet connection. Since many Internet gateway devices provided by the Internet Service Providers (ISPs) have a built-in wireless router, a lot of homes already have a network without even knowing it.

If you only have an Internet gateway device that is intended for a single computer, then all you need to do is install a wireless router from a company like Linksys, Netgear, or D-Link. They are inexpensive and give you home a full-fledged wired and wireless network. You can then connect any wireless device or device with an Ethernet port, giving them Internet access and the ability to share data within the home. Sonos accessing data off of a network-connected Drobo is one example of this.

Put Music on the Drobo Whether your music is organized inside a large folder or contained in an iTunes library, it just has to exist somewhere on your Drobo for Sonos to be able to access it. In this example, I’m creating a new share on a Drobo 5N called “Music” and am copying a few albums to it.

Note: If your music already exists on the Drobo, this section can be skipped.

STEP 1

In the left navigation, click Shares, and then click Share Settings.



STEP 2

Click Add to create a new share and name it. In this example, I named it Music. Click OK. Then click OK again to complete the Shares Settings changes.

STEP 3

Click the Mount checkbox next to the newly created share to mount it in the Finder (Mac) or Windows Explorer (Windows).



STEP 4

Copy your music to the Drobo. You are now ready to set up the Sonos.

Setup the Sonos System Setting up the Sonos system is very easy. Follow the instructions included to do these simple steps:

STEP 1 Plug in the Sonos player to the router and a power outlet. Only power is needed if using it wirelessly.

STEP 2 If using wirelessly, connect the Sonos Bridge to the router.

STEP 3 Install the Sonos application on your Mac or PC.

STEP 4 Follow the simple on-screen directions in the Sonos application to finish the hardware setup and configuration.

Configure Sonos to Access Music on the Drobo Since the Sonos system supports accessing music on a network share, streaming off of a Drobo 5N is very simple and does not require any additional accessories or applications.



STEP 1

Launch the Sonos application and navigate to Music Library in its Preferences.

STEP 2

Click the + button to add a music folder and then select the On a networked device such as a network attached storage (NAS) drive. Click Next.



STEP 3

Type the path to the folder that contains you music on the Drobo. If the entire Drobo share contains music, the path will be:

\\drobo_name\share_name\

Use the name of your Drobo and the name of the share you created. Click Next.

Note – If the Drobo can not be mounted via hostname, it can also be mounted by IP address

\\192.168.1.100\share_name

STEP 4

Type in the Username and Password to access the share on the Drobo. It is recommended to use the Admin username and password. Click Next.



STEP 5

Sonos can now access all music contained in the share you just added.

STEP 6

This is optional, but it is recommended to click the Advanced tab and check the Update content every day at: box. This will automatically keep the Sonos up-to-date as you add more music to your Drobo.

Play Music Now that the Sonos system can access music on your Drobo, you can stream your personal collection anywhere throughout your home.



STEP 1

In the Sonos application, click Music Library as the music source.

STEP 2

Navigate through your music library and play a song or add it to the queue.

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Copyright 2013 Drobo, Inc. Data Robotics, Drobo, DroboEllite, DroboPro, BeyondRAID, and Smart Volumes are trademarks of Drobo, Inc., which may be registered in some jurisdictions. All other trademarks used are owned by their respective owners.

All rights reserved. Specifications subject to change without notice. � March 2013

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Drobo How-To Guide · Drobo How-To Guide Streaming Music from a Drobo 5N to a Sonos Wireless Hi-Fi System drobo.com | Streaming Music from a Drobo 5N to a Sonos Wireless Hi-Fi System