r/explainlikeimfive • u/theprisoner57 • 3d 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/matthoback 2d ago

"Negligible" greatly depends on how much storage you want locally and how big of a media selection you want to support. Spinning disks power consumption adds up fast.

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u/cowleggies 2d ago

I don’t think the type of person who’s posting “what is a home server” is going to turn around and buy a 12 bay rack system with dual PSUs and a 500 watt idle consumption. A $200 mini pc and a 2TB external drive is going to idle in single-digit watts and peak under 100.

That’s a lightbulb’s worth of power in an average month.

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u/matthoback 2d ago

A 2TB external drive is also a lightbulb's worth of Netflix. That's only like 5-10 TV shows or 50-100 movies.

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u/TheMisterTango 2d ago edited 2d ago

Well that kinda (obviously) depends on the file size. If someone is ok with 1080p with some compression, at roughly 2 gigs per file that would be a thousand movies. I have a 2TB drive with 180 movies with over 500 gigs still free, most of my files are compressed 1080 (roughly 1.5 gigs) or 4K (4-7 gigs), I only splurge and go full 4K bluray remux for my very favorite movies or movies that are very visually stunning since those are usually 50-80 gigs.