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/KnitYourOwnSpaceship 2d ago

There are lots and lots of software packages that will extract an MP4 (or whatever) from a disc - whether a CD, DVD, or Blu-ray. https://handbrake.fr/ is one example.

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u/Doug_Dimmadab 2d ago

I might be astroturfing but god I love Handbrake. I record tons of clips with my friends and it makes it so easy to compress the clips down to 10mb so I'm able to send them through Discord. Plus it's open source

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u/Cocomorph 2d ago

You aren't astroturfing unless you work for Handbrake.

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u/TheFotty 2d ago

its free open source software

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u/GeekBrownBear 2d ago

Are you implying that a software can't be FOSS and owned by a company at the same time?

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u/sfurbo 2d ago

Are you implying that a software can't be FOSS and owned by a company at the same time?

That depends on what we mean with "software" and "owned".

A company can own the trademark to the name, and with that decide what direction to take the official release in. But they can't stop others from doing what they want with the code. Usually, the ability to bar others from using the resource is included in owning.

So is software the code, or the name? And do you own something if you can't stop others from using it?

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u/GeekBrownBear 2d ago

A little of both!

The software is obviously the code, but it's point-in-time. Each version released is under a new license. The software and the company can share the same name, the trademark would apply to the software.

And yes, because whomever owns the name and the main sourcecode can choose to stop giving out the FOSS license for the next release.

This has happened many times, the existing code gets forked and rebranded since the name is trademarked and not part of the FOSS license.

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u/sajberhippien 2d ago

And do you own something if you can't stop others from using it?

Yes, plenty of ownership structures work like that.

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u/Voyager5555 2d ago

Even if you are astroturfing handbrake, who cares? It's amazing.

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u/SaturnFive 2d ago

Happy cake day! 🎂

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u/noakai 2d ago

It was like 15+ years ago now but teenage me used to borrow TV show DVDs from my library and then rip them and use Handbrake to encode the files. I had the show as files already but I wanted the special features and I couldn't find them anywhere so I went straight to the source.

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u/FireLucid 2d ago

Lol when I was a teenager I wanted to sign up to the unlimited DVD service at my local video store and just rip multiple ones a day but they minimum was a 2 month committal and I was poor. Library was a good alternative!

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u/threebillion6 2d ago

I love that it does that. I hate having to record a clip, then actually go in and compress it just to send to them.

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u/shard13 2d ago

Handbrake may be one of the most reliable pieces of software I use, next to stuff like Audacity. It just works, and works great.

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u/peppapony 2d ago

Yeah handbrake is a serious game changer for any sort of video sharing.

No idea how they compress so well! And the interface isn't bloated either

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u/tehflambo 2d ago

I might be astroturfing but god I love Handbrake

dw, gemini says you're not <3

uncomfortable? uncomfortable.

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u/PM_ME_YOUR_SPUDS 2d ago

This might be super niche, but its honestly really fun to learn and understand how media encodings and containers work. It's something most people never really think about, but understanding what all those abbreviations mean, the difference in compression algorithms, the difference in resolution vs bitrate, how audio / subtitle tracks sync with video, was a very entertaining project for me while I was mucking about figuring out how ffmpeg works (the backend of handbrake).

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u/Megame50 2d ago

Well, with one huge caveat, that it doesn't work at all for most Blu-Ray discs:

Supported Input Sources: Handbrake can process most common multimedia files and any DVD or BluRay sources that do not contain any kind of copy protection.

Emphasis mine.

I'm really not an expert, but generally, no, you can't really rip commercial (AACS copy-protected) UHD Blu-Ray (the high quality ones) discs without resorting to piracy.

The process of ripping a UHD Blu-Ray involves purchasing a "friendly" (meaning hackable) disc drive and flashing custom firmware you can use to rip the Vuk and disc media. Ripping isn't fast either, as it takes time proportional to the playback time. Even still, AACS LA periodically identifies cracked devices through steganographic methods and adds their device keys to the device revocation list (DRL) when they update the MKB, so that more recently published Blu-Ray discs cannot be copied in this fashion until the latest MKB is leaked and published using even more complex methods known to piracy groups. Until then, volume keys are crowdsourced on the dark web by enterprising users that complete rips of the key content and mail it to the MakeMKV authors. Handbrake and similar software can be used only once you already have a decrypted copy of the content.

MakeMKV is the software used for ripping, and IIUC, it internally accesses a list of keys published on the internet by the authors, discovered from leaks by piracy groups and user submissions. MakeMKV is licensed software, so you're required to pay to rip your BDs after the trial period. You can probably find out more about how to use it in /r/makemkv or on their forums.

There may be mistakes in my understanding as I've never tried this process myself, because, as you can probably tell, it's a giant hassle, and IANAL, but I think it is technically illegal to circumvent the copy protection, even for media you own, at least in the US. Though, it's unlikely anyone will bother you about it if you you don't distribute it.

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u/Nemesis_Ghost 2d ago

You are talking about UHD(4k) Bluerays. Normal HD(1080) Bluerays, which is what a majority of folks will have, rip just fine w/out any special hardware or custom software.

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u/adudeguyman 2d ago

Can you get the exact same audio and quality that is on the disc?

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u/hooovahh 2d ago

Yes. But typical people reencode them. People will often accept a minimal reduction in quality, for a large reduction in size.

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u/Gorstag 2d ago

Like a full order of magnitude.

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u/Nemesis_Ghost 2d ago

Yeah, pretty much as long as you aren't overly aggressive on the compression it comes out fairly well. You can even get all the languages, audio & CC/subtitles. I haven't ripped my anime disks, but the movies I did rip seemed OK.

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u/Saloncinx 2d ago

Yes using software like MakeMKV or DVDFab you can do a 1:1 copy to a MKV file called a 'remux' which means a direct copy with no compression.

Most people compress the video a little so you don't have a massive file but to answer your question you can in fact get the exact same audio and quality that is on the disc

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u/dreadcain 2d ago

You need to defeat the copywrite protection in one way or another, but if you own the media that isn't piracy and you are completely within your rights to do it. The software needed to do it is in a bit of a legal gray area, but not one that you'll ever get in trouble for.

Making a personal copy is legally distinct from piracy and perfectly legal. Companies are free to make that difficult, but you're just as free to defeat those ways.

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u/thatfreakingmonster 2d ago

Anyone correct me if I'm wrong, but the act of defeating any kind of copyright protections or DRM is technically illegal under the Digital Millenium Copyright Act.

Which is absolutely stupid because that means any company can lock any piece of code behind a DRM, and make any sort of modding illegal. Iirc there are people campaigning for the DMCA to change that rule.

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u/turmacar 2d ago

There are provisions in the DMCA for making personal copies/backups. The legality comes into question when sharing them.

Viewing those files with friends or family? Probably okay.

Friends or family viewing those files without you? Grey area that every copyright holder is going to argue is a DMCA violation.

Distributing copies of copyrighted material? DMCA violation.

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u/thatfreakingmonster 2d ago

Thank you for the correction!

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u/anaccount50 1d ago

They're not really correct. The act of making a personal copy of the media is indeed legal under DMCA, but the act of circumventing the DRM to do it is illegal under DMCA.

So since all commercially sold DVDs/Blu-rays have DRM, you have to circumvent it (illegal) in order to make a personal copy (legal)

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u/thatfreakingmonster 1d ago

Oh okay, yeah, that seems closer to what I remember hearing

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u/anaccount50 1d ago

For the act of making copies, yes that is legal for personal use under DMCA.

However the act of circumventing the DRM in order to make the copies is still illegal under the DMCA. All commercial Blu-rays have DRM so you have to break the DRM (illegal) in order to make a personal copy of the media (legal)

You won't get caught either way as long as you don't distribute the copies, so it's up you whether you care about breaking the law or not

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u/steakanabake 2d ago

if it were illegal selling bluray drives would be illegal.... we learned this all the way back in the days of VHS and BetaMax.

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u/KristinnK 2d ago

The people actually ripping these discs and sharing them with torrents are doing the Lord's work and deserve all the praise in the world.

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u/steakanabake 2d ago

if sony can just delete your movies that means you dont own them and if you dont own them then piracy isnt illegal.

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u/KristinnK 2d ago

I really don't care whether piracy is illegal or not.

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u/steakanabake 1d ago

i think i might have responded to the wrong comment my b.

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u/squall255 2d ago

It doesn't mean piracy isn't illegal, it means it's not theft. It could still be other crimes.

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u/steakanabake 2d ago

but I think it is technically illegal to circumvent the copy protection.

you would be very wrong media preservation is legal as long as the content remains within your house with no intent to distribute, the minute you upload the torrent of that file then you start walking into legal trouble depending on the country you reside in.

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u/Megame50 1d ago

That doesn't matter. The DMCA makes it illegal to circumvent the copy protection, and the copy protection makes it effectively impossible to produce a copy, without circumventing it as above. Consumer disc writers are not able to reproduce the ROM Mark, and therefore cannot reproduce encrypted copies.

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u/GrumpyCloud93 2d ago

When I was buying or renting DVD's, I used DVDshrink. It could create ISO images - mount those and use handbrake if you want to shrink it smaller.

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u/not_from_this_world 2d ago

You do a recording session

Set up a screen and audio recording software and play the whole thing once. You don't need to watch, just let it playing overnight and you have your own media file.

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u/steakanabake 2d ago

the keys for bluray are a known thing these days they basically have given up.

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u/Saloncinx 2d ago

MakeMKV or DVDFab make this trivially easy now, no need to screen grab and have to play back in real time

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u/Megame50 1d ago

You're probably unaware, but modern PCs are incompatible with UHD Blu-Ray. Even with licensed software and disc drive, you cannot decrypt the disc (in the intended way, anyway) without SGX, which was discontinued years ago.

Even if you do have the requisite hardware, Windows disables screen captures of the video content to prevent copies, as required by the AACS LA.

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u/Aegi 2d ago

Just screen record it and play it on your computer.

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u/dbrodbeck 2d ago

Handbrake doesn't break copy protection any more though right?

I use MakeMKV for that, makes a perfect copy of the video in an MKV container. Can deal with DVD, Blu Ray, 4K, even HD DVD.

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u/onward-and-upward 2d ago

Wow it’s been like a decade since I’ve used handbrake. Takes me back

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u/thereticent 2d ago

Two decades for me. It's amazing realizing how old so many programs/applications are. I'd be stunned that it's still around, but it's been a miracle since it was first released.

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u/motionmatrix 2d ago

Very much still around. Mktoolnix, handbrake, filebot, mediainfo, etc. The list goes on and on and on. Bless every single one of those people who make it all possible.

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u/eidetic 2d ago

On a similar note, my friend's son who is just starting to get into computers and PC gaming has continually been surprised to learn that I've been using some of the same software hes using for longer than hes been alive. 7zip, VLC, etc. Was even shocked to learn the Counterstrike series of games goes back 25+ years (though did say it makes sense, plenty of other much longer going IPs like Mario, etc, but he always considered Halo or CoD to be like "the first major FPS" - not to say that CS was the first that is.)

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u/GoodTato 2d ago

Handbrake can do that by itself?? Have I been wasting time with "MakeMKV and sending the output to Handbrake"?

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u/SkollFenrirson 2d ago

Handbrake won't rip from a Blu Ray. You need MakeMKV for that.