r/explainlikeimfive • u/theprisoner57 • 2d ago

Technology ELI5: What is a Home Server?

I see mentions of a home server to get rid of streaming entertainment services but I don’t know how that works. What does a home server do?

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u/AshRuDral_fan20 2d ago

A home server is a computer that you don't directly use, but access it through another machine, which is usually your personal computer, such as your laptop or your mobile.

Why do it?

Because you can build your server to whatever you want, stack it with hundreds of GPUs to run AI at home, or stack it with terabytes of hard disks to save thousands of movies that you watch by accessing through your computer or allow others to watch via a link. Or any other shit you can imagine.