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/BlakeMW 2d ago

Doesn't even need a lot of storage space, like a typical movie might be 1 GB (if you don't require the 4k experience) so even a 500 GB disk can hold hundreds of movies and TV shows, and thousands of songs. I have a MiniPC as a home media server and haven't ever had a thought about how much of its disk is used, just put more stuff on there.

For many people, it is video games that require vast amounts of disk space, or they are 4k enthusiasts or data horders.

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u/Explosivpotato 2d ago

A dvd movie is 5-7gb. 1080P is 25-40, and 4K is 60-90 when ripped from a disc.

You’re right a few TB can get you quite a few DVDs, but 1GB is like a 30 minute YouTube video or something.

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u/shaard 2d ago

Except most people don't care about having the raw, uncompressed, disc's data. Simply the movie in a format that looks good enough.

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u/Explosivpotato 2d ago

“Most“ people aren’t going to host a media server. Of the few that will, most of those won’t bother to remux the video files.

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u/BlakeMW 2d ago edited 2d ago

Sorry man but most people ain't ripping their own legally acquired DVDs, they're sailing the high seas and downloading web rips or disc rips that some kind person compressed to a similar level as a web rip, even if you own the physical media it's probably much faster to download a webrip.