Hello everyone,
I would like to know whether it is possible to use the ROON server installation in several locations with one licence.
I have one hifi system in my usual home and another in a holiday home in a country other than my usual home. Could I install the ROON server in the computer in my usual home and the one in my holiday home to manage the music in both locations?
ROON would be used alternatively, i.e. not active in both locations at the same time.
I hope I have made myself clear.
I would like to thank anyone who can help me in advance.
You can run as many Roon servers as you like with just one license. But only one can run at a time.
Whenever you change to a different server, when you log in it will report that the license is already in use and present you with an ‘Unauthorize’ button.
Simply select ‘Unauthorize’ and continue to log in.
When you get back to your own home, repeat the process.
‘Unauthorizing’ a server is entirely non-destructive. Whilst is prevents the previous server from being used, it does not affect the database or music storage on that server so that re-authorizing (by logging in) will get you back to where you were before you authorized the other server.
What you can not do is use your Roon subscription on a second server when at the holiday home and expect other household/family members left at the first home to be able to continue using Roon using the first server. This would require a second license (either on the same account or on different accounts). But this is OK because, in your question you explicitly ruled out this scenario.
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Thank you for the very quick reply!
So I can switch from one licence to another as many times as I want? There is no limit and no consequences for my licence?
Well strictly, you can move your one license from one server to another as many times as you like.
No.
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That is correct. However, your usage history and libraries will not be synchronized directly, Roon will treat the different Roon Servers as separate platforms. One approach to mitigate this is to backup Roon and use that backup in the other location, assuming the music libraries are identical. Another approach may be to run Roon and the music library from a laptop and bring that laptop with you to each location.
There are a few options, some may be easier than other depending on how you want to use Roon at each location.
Thank you, Wide_Oram.
thank you for the clarification, Robert_F, however I would use ROON in the second house predominantly with TIDAL and on a computer that stays permanently there; I could however backup my music library on a portable hard disk to connect to the computer in the second house when I am there. It would be a matter of updating it periodically with recent music acquisitions. Am I making the right argument?
One more question, sorry if trivial: does it not matter if the two houses are one in Italy and one in France? I ask this question because I have had some problems with Netflix…
This is correct and another option. Roon Backups and the identical music library are portable between different Roon Servers.
I am not a Tidal user, but the only issue may be whether France and Italy have access to the same Tidal libraries. This would be my only major concern, I assume Tidal accounts transfer easily across EU borders.
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I know I’m overweight - but I’m not that big 
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I’m in stitches with this
Sorry, but I did not explain myself well: I have already used TIDAL in Italy and France and there is no problem; I was referring to the change of authorisation of ROON server between computers which are alternately in Italy and France and which, therefore, connect to ROON with Internet IP addresses from different countries…
Maybe Wide_Oram had the stuffing put back into him instead of having it knocked out 
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Backing up and restoring databases (and maintaining an identical local library) are options but they are not a requirement. If you want to leave the libraries independent that is perfectly legitimate and will not cause any issues.
Again, only an issue if attempting to use a common library database.
I would assume Tidal accounts are portable across international borders (never tried it). It would be very dissapointing to find that I needed a different Tidal account for each country I visited.
This is not an issue - provided that the Roon cloud servers can be reached (which they can in Italy and France - but not in China without jumping through [unsupported] hoops).
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Forgive me Wade_Oram, I got your name wrong, I apologise!
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No offence taken I assure you. I have made worse mistakes in my time.
In the final years of my professional career I worked on a technology called ORAN (Open Radio Access Network - for connecting the network part of 4G/5G base-stations to the radio part using high bandwidth optical fibre based Ethernet (40Gbps and, just as I was retiring, 100Gbps).
Every time I typed ‘ORAN’, somehow or another it appeared on the screen as ‘ORAM’. It still does - I have had to correct the same typo twice whilst composing this reply
Thank you all for your replies! I think I’ve cleared up the doubts I had. Greetings to all!
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I have this exact situation. I bought a NUC and I installed ROCK on it. It’s quite small, so I just take it between homes……works great!
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To be honest, doing that is a pain. I tried it and gave it up. I moved a drive back and forth for a couple of years, but it was too much of a hassle. The libraries are not in sync, you have to re-index everything (as stuff has changed since the last time I did it) and so on.
In my second home, I am now just streaming Tidal directly from my Naim Uniti without going through Roon.
What would be ideal is for ARC to work on a desktop or laptop that is connected to my second home’s internet. Currently, I can use ARC on my phone and connect to the Uniti via Bluetooth - with a subsequent drop in signal quality. I hope Roon develops ARC that way, as currently, it’s really only useful on the go (car, walk …) but on the other hand, controlling a big library via ARC while driving is downright dangerous.
I’ve written about this here…
Frankly, I too got tired of a fancy version. Now what I do is I have two Synology NAS (one fancy, one dirt cheap) and they keep a synchronized version of my full library, one in each house.
I have a ROCK in each house, and each points to the library. If I add to Tidal or Qobuz faves they are automagically reflected in my library, if I add something local in either house it’s automatically added to the library in the other.
Beyond that, my entire systems are discrete. Different playlists, different play counts, different everything. But the libraries are the same. Simpler.
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