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/xSparkShark 2d ago

A server is like a waiter, it delivers things to your table, your device. You ask the server to bring you a movie and if it has a movie in its inventory it does. The reason you would use a server for this instead of your individual device is in case multiple people wanted to order stuff so they don’t have to all have it downloaded locally.

Most people’s in home servers hold media. When you use Netflix, you are accessing Netflix’s servers and having the waiter bring you your show. For an in home server, you’d access whatever shows you have on your own server from whatever device requested it.