About a decade ago it was a dream to own a smartphone. Now that almost everybody has seemingly achieved that dream, there is a new one in place. It is a dream that involves a smart home. A smart home is a reality now with many people living the luxury of controlling everything such as light, fridge, sweeping robot even an air purifier at home using their smartphone.
If you are looking to create your own smart home or a home automation system, it is better to have a home server as well. This makes the control of your home easier letting you manage all the internet-connected devices at home even from a remote location. What makes home automation easier is the presence of a home server.
Computers have become commonplace because people completely depend on this device for their work, studies, etc. Therefore, it is only natural that there are several computers at home that house a large number of media files like movies, photos, and other content. Even though these computers might be connected to the same network, sharing files is a hassle.
This is where a server works its magic. A server backs up all your data and at the same time lets, you send and receive files between devices connected to the same network. Simply put, a home server is a computer that is dedicated to storing and sharing files used by your personal computers at home.
Benefits of a Home Server:
1. Transfer of Files and Data Backup
A home server is a centralized storage solution for all your data needs. Consider you have movies downloaded on different computers at home. If you have downloaded it on someone else’s computer you might not be able to access it. A private server that is connected to your home network can help you save the movie on it and access it when you need it regardless of the computer that you are using.
You can manage the server using your computer or your phone that is connected to the home network. A server lets you access all your media files on any device because it keeps a constant backup of these files.
2. Control Your Own Data
Apart from file sharing, an important benefit of a personal server at home is control of your own data. People spend money on cloud storage solutions and buy multiple hard disks to store their data. While hard disks are safe, your data might not be safe on third-party servers.
Since we have rampant data privacy issues, now having control of your own data is safer for you and your family. You are free to upload whatever content you want without having to read the terms of service of a commercial web hosting company.
3. Smart Home
As mentioned earlier, a home server is a great setup if you are looking to turn your simple home into a smart home. You can simply connect all your devices to the server via your personal network. Multiple sensors are placed in your homes that are connected to a central server. The server, hence, manages all the devices that are connected to the same network.
4. Host Your Own Website
Some of us have small blogs or even host websites that provide relevant content. Rather than paying a monthly fee to web hosting services for maintaining your blog, simply install a server at home and run your website on it. Since the server is on all the time, your readers can access the content at any time regardless of their time zones.
However, you will have to keep your server activated all the time and this might shoot up your electricity expenses. But, if you have a small blog, a low powered server is enough to keep your blog running. This is also less expensive compared to a subscription to a blog hosting service.
5. A Private Gaming Server
Both adults and children alike have hit a gaming frenzy mode this lockdown. Games are a source of fun and entertainment. But some wish to take their gaming prowess to the next level by having a dedicated gaming server.
If you play a normal game on Steam you are likely to face restrictions that are a part of the game. But with a personal gaming server, you can take total control of your gameplay. You can choose the friends that will team up with you or play against you rather than playing with random friends online.
This means that you can host your own multiplayer games using the server and invite your friends to join in. So, if one of your friends has poor internet connectivity and his gameplay is lagging on his computer, you can simply kick him out and continue with the game.
A home server is useful if you have any of the above-mentioned requirements. A server is highly useful as a personal streaming service because it can let you create your own Netflix at home. Since all the media files are backed up on the server there is no buffering time. Simply click on the movie and you can begin watching it without any lag.
Hope this article has helped you understand what a home server is and why you need one.
Read also:
5 Best Powerline Adapters Ideal for Gaming 2021.
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