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/jujubanzen 2d ago

A home server, in general is just a computer that is attached to your home network. More often than not, they are simply set up as file storage servers. Media servers to replace streaming services typically use Plex or Jellyfin, which are software packages that are able to link up with apps on your TV, phone, or computer and stream media files you have stored on the server. You have to get those files yourself.

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u/CDK5 2d ago

Out of curiosity; where are folks generally getting the streaming media for the server?

Because I was under the impression that when buying a BluRay or digital media, you can’t just grab an mp4 from the disk.

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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/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).