I don’t have a NAS, but I am thinking of getting one for my expanding repository of documents and media. It would be very useful to index all of those files in DEVONthink. It would also be very useful for a Windows machine to also have access to the NAS and to those files. I have no experience with such devices and wonder if that is even possible. Is it? 
In theory: yes. Practically, you must mount the NAS folder on your machine, probably using SMB.
But indexing media? That will probably take a long time, and what do you expect as benefit?
Is there a reason why indexing media would take longer than usual?
There are two benefits that I expect. The first benefit is the increased storage capacity. The second benefit is rendering these files accessible to AI tools on Windows. Using Whisper AI, for example, to transcribe hundreds of MP3s/MP4s on Windows, and having those transcriptions indexed and searchable from DEVONthink would be invaluable.
I just did a test to “index” a folder on my Synology NAS on the local network that hold a good number of PDF “books”. I just “pointed” to the folder from the DEVONthink Import screens, the mac automatically mounted the share via SMB, and indexed the files into DEVONthink in seconds. Yes, speed depends on volume of files, but it seemed to work.
I do have a DEVONthink database called “Books” which indexes all those books on the NAS. I don’t remember it taking an inordinate amount of time, and when I want to look for something in that library of books, I use DEVONthink with no noticeable issues.
Read about indexing in the “DEVONthink Manual” as there are more complexities associated with indexing vs. importing.
Try it and see what happens. Let us know how it works for you.
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Thanks! That is encouraging. Now, I just wonder if those files would be accessible by a Windows machine and if DEVONthink would automatically index files that are added by the Windows machine.
Again, read about indexing in the “DEVONthink Manual”. I think you will find there about updating indexed items using the Menu: File → Update Indexed Items.
There are important things you need to know about indexing which are documented in that document which I hope you have imported into one of your DEVONthink databases already.
Edit: Also in the outstanding “DEVONthink Manual” is guidance on cataloging “photos and media” files. The “DEVONthink Manual” a terrific resource.
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Size.
And if you want to transcribe the MPx anyway, there’s no need to index them, too. Just index the transcription.
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