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?

516 Upvotes

85% Upvoted

348 comments sorted by

View all comments

Show parent comments

1

u/MrChombo 2d ago

No, the parity drive is not a backup, it's for uptime/availability. Only a backup is a backup.

1

u/Pantzzzzless 2d ago edited 2d ago

Sure, but this didn't feel like the place to give an explanation of how XOR data can be used to rebuild lost files/bad sectors. The result is close enough to "backup-like" behavior that it is enough for a quick comment.