Computer Audio Asylum

Two more basic CA questions I should know the answer to . . .

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Right now I'm using a MacBook Pro as both a home computer and music server. I use Pure Music with a USB DAC in the same room and I stream wirelessly to an Apple TV or Express in remote rooms, using optical cables to the DACs they are near.

My current practice is to rip CDs onto an external HD connected to the MacBook Pro by a Thunderbolt cable, which has the iTunes folder on it. I direct the iTunes library to that HD, and I use Time Machine on another external HD to back up both my internal HD and the external music HD.

I am getting a new Mac Mini as a dedicated music server and thinking of doing about the same thing with respect to music. I would just move the external music HD over to the Mac Mini and direct iTunes on the Mac Mini to that same iTunes folder on the HD. I was also thinking I would get a second HD for the Mini for Time Machine back up.

1. Is that a reasonable approach? It is simple, which is why I like it.

But . . .

2. Could I instead connect the music HD to my Apple Extreme router and let iTunes on both the MacBook Pro and the new Mac Mini look to that HD for the music files? That way I could still rip CDs on my old MacBook directly to the same HD in one room while the Mini is in another room playing the music off of that HD. And can I do that as wirelessly as well as through ethernet as part of the Mac architecture?

Sorry - I've been operating at a really basic level for awhile and trying expand my working knowledge. I'm not even sure if I'm just describing a sort of half-assed NAS??

Assuming I am kind of figuring this out, I also assume Roon would work and should be downloaded onto the Mini?
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