Setting iPad default storage path to NAS

[Jehanzeb]

Morning everyone,

 

hope everyone is doing well.

 

I am trying to setup 60 iPads for primary school kids with standard configuration (using apple configurator). One thing that I have noticed is the inability to define the storage path. The idea is to store data (Photos, Music, Movies, Docs etc) onto NAS drive as default. Does anyone know or has tried or has achieved this? How can we define default storage network /path in Apple Configurator/ or any other method for iPads - We're using iPad2?

 

Kind regards

 

J.

[fairm010]

This cannot be done I'm afraid. The nature of the devices are that the photos will be stored on the device itself and you can then sync them with an online storage platform (Onedrive, Dropbox etc) Or plug them into a PC and download them that way.

[Michael]

Alternatively one solution I've come up with is to configure a generic Office 365 Push Mail account on the iPad. You can then e-mail pictures and videos from the iPad to their real Office 365 account, which accepts 25MB attachments. Generally speaking this is enough for most of their requirements.

[abillybob]

You can do it with the Software called Tonido, it's free and you set it up on your NAS box running as a service. Then you install the Tonido app on all iPads logging in with an account you have setup.

You can then enable Automatic Camera Uploads under Tonido's settings which uploads all videos and photos taken by the device onto the NAS automatically although other stuff like Music and Docs will need to be uploaded manually but Tonido can also do this for you as well.

[Jehanzeb]

Thanks firm010 for a quick reply. I believe the inability creates lot of challenges for IT/Network managers. I wish there was a way to do this.

 

Kind regards

 

J.

[fairm010]

As others have said, there are ways but they involve 3rd party apps. There is no native way to do this with an iPad. By entering into Apple's (Very tight) ecosystem you are acknowledging these challenges even if SLT do not.

[Jehanzeb]

Thanks Michael and abillybob. I'll look into Tonido.

 

Fairm010, one may wonder, why Apple boasts about being the most desirable device (iPad) in school environment when it doesn't allow basic facilities/features to IT/Network managers.

 

Regards

 

J.

Edited January 26, 2015 by Jehanzeb

[fairm010]

Because from a learning perspective the devices are very good. There are some very feature rich apps available which I have seen myself enhance learning greatly in lessons. But I would assume they are mainly targeting this market as they realise there is a fair but of money to be made!

[kennysarmy]

and then there would be the issue of not just photos but all the app data from all those lovely little apps you are going to be asked to install....

[SovietRussia]

Apple boasts about being the most desirable device (iPad) in school environment when it doesn't allow basic facilities/features to IT/Network managers.

 

Its because when they say that, they mean 1 to 1 deployment and not shared.

 

I have ranted now for nearly 2 years on the poor management of devices, welcome to the club!

[fairm010]

Its because when they say that, they mean 1 to 1 deployment and not shared.

 

I have ranted now for nearly 2 years on the poor management of devices, welcome to the club!

 

And unfortunately, SLT still insist these devices are to be introduced!

[Jehanzeb]

Even having these devices on 1 to 1, it does not solve the problem. I can already see updating these devices including apps remotely will be another management challenge. kennysarmy raised a very good point - apps that takes huge amount of space on iPad should also be run from NAS....thinking now.....

 

Regards

 

J.

Edited January 26, 2015 by Jehanzeb

[fairm010]

It sounds like what you need to consider is are there other devices that can fit your requirements? Surface Pro perhaps, which runs Windows 8.1.

[Jehanzeb]

I thought of Surface pro but then we have the challenge of apps and end user experience. We are Primary school at the end of the day. I would like to centralise the storage - using ACLs but if iPad does not allow default network storage it defeats the point of having NAS in the first place (create more headache of keeping iPad devices standardised). Apple Configurator is ok, wouldn't call it good though.

[HodgeHi]

How would you manage other devices from a central location? Does Windows 8 tablets provide you with any enterprise wide management similar to Apple's Configurator and VPP for large app deployment? Does Android have anything for their Market place? I am just curious as to what the other vendors are doing to resolve their own deployment issues.

[njc235]

Have you looked at FoldR? It was specifically designed for mobile device document storage and is well priced.

[Jehanzeb]

Morning njc235, yes I did have a look at it. One of the guys who I met in the last Apple conference mentioned it to me. It is a nice nifty tool.

[Brimstone]

Morning njc235, yes I did have a look at it. One of the guys who I met in the last Apple conference mentioned it to me. It is a nice nifty tool.

 

 

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