Drobo How-To Guide
Streaming Music from a Drobo 5N to a Sonos Wireless Hi-Fi System
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 directattached 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
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•
•
•
•
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
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Drobo How-To Guide
Streaming Music from a Drobo 5N to a Sonos Wireless Hi-Fi System
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 fullfledged 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.
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Drobo How-To Guide
Streaming Music from a Drobo 5N to a Sonos Wireless Hi-Fi System
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).
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Drobo How-To Guide
Streaming Music from a Drobo 5N to a Sonos Wireless Hi-Fi System
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.
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Drobo How-To Guide
Streaming Music from a Drobo 5N to a Sonos Wireless Hi-Fi System
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.
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Drobo How-To Guide
Streaming Music from a Drobo 5N to a Sonos Wireless Hi-Fi System
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_nam
e\
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_na
me
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.
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Drobo How-To Guide
Streaming Music from a Drobo 5N to a Sonos Wireless Hi-Fi System
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.
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Drobo How-To Guide
Streaming Music from a Drobo 5N to a Sonos Wireless Hi-Fi System
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.
Drobo  2460 North First Street, Suite 100, San Jose, CA  www.drobo.com  1.866.97.DROBO
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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