Hi,
I'm running a windows XP based computer.
I'm using Itunes to manage my mp3 collection and i would like to use a file server to store my mp3.
I know that on a mac, Itunes will detect this server using rendezvous protocol.
But I don't know if it will act this way on my WinXP PC.
In fact, will rendezvous work on WinXP ? And if not, how itunes could detect a server ?
Thanks for your answers.

Yes, it'll work. They built support for ZeroConf (aka "rendezvous") and shared music and such into iTunes on the PC as well.

Do you mean that itunes includes rendezvous by default ?
And if I connect a music server to my pc, itunes will automaticaly find it ?
I hope so ...

What part of "yes, it'll work" did you not understand?

If the server is using the music sharing method that iTunes supports, it'll work. But if it's using some other method, it won't. When you say "file server" I'm not entirely sure what you're talking about. iTunes music sharing doesn't share files, exactly. I mean, you can't edit other people's ID3 tags or anything.

Which probably means he just wants the server for remote file storage, not as an iTunes music server.

With the former, you'd control the files, as they'd be in your iTunes music library. With the latter, the files would belong to the user on the server; to make any changes to the library (edit playlists, id3 tags, etc.), you'd have to log in locally to the server.

In fact, I idealy want to build something like this : 1 PC with itunes, 1 NAS with the mp3, 1 terminal like squeezebox or roku.
So I try to simulate this with 2 PC (I would like to by all this stuff, but it's expensive and I would like to be sure that is working).
I have itunes on 1 PC.
On another PC, I have some mp3, and slimserver, which is said to be able to be a music server for itunes.
I use softsqueeze to emulate squeezebox.
Softqueeze is working, displaying and playing mp3, so the slimserver is ok.
But on the first PC, with itunes I can only stream the content of slimserver, not to see it as a music server.
So my question could be now :
does slimserver really act like a music server for itunes.
if not, or if you doesn't know the answer, what kind of software is useful to act like a music server.

Thank you for reading my poor english

I don't see the difference between streaming the content to the box on demand vs. seeing it as "a music server".

What do you consider to be a "music server"?

The only way iTunes is capable of seeing music over a network is by seeing a shared music library, which will stream music to the box in real time. That's it. iTunes doesn't have any more capability than that, on any type of machine.

for me the difference is streaming means playing the music sent by the server (here the slimserver), and this is working. To see a music server means to be able to pick a particular mp3, navigate throught the server's library.
Ok that means I would like to see and navigate a shared music library into itunes.
Do you think itunes could only stream distant content ?
I'm sure I saw a picture of itnues displaying a distant shared library !!! Did I dream ????

I think when using the iTunes integration of slimserver, you're limited to files on the local machine.

slimserver can index files from all over the network itself though, via shortcuts in its main music folder.

Ahh, I see. You're streaming a music stream, like an online radio station, into iTunes from the slimserver. What you want to see is a shared music library.

Yes, iTunes can display a shared music library, but slimserver has to offer it up as such before that will happen.

To the best of my knowledge, slimserver's support for DAAP (the protocol used to do this sort of thing) is basically receive only. Meaning that if you use iTunes to share your music library, the slimserver device will be able to see it and use it itself. It doesn't offer its own library up using DAAP.

It could be the explanation.
So...
What kind of software, using DAAP, can be used for a music server.
A read someting about mt-daap, or TwonkyVision media server.
Did someone use this stuff ?