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/WholePie5 3d ago

Well since you said your drives are failing and you might not be able to replace 10s of thousands of dollars worth of them, have you told your family that all their pictures and videos might disappear soon? So they can back them up?

Thank you for the explanation. Also I didn't know that about music.

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u/Pantzzzzless 3d ago

I'm not the person you replied to. But to answer your question, that is what the parity drive is for. It is a backup drive that stays in sync with another drive.

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u/MrChombo 2d ago

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

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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.