A network connection has become a crucial part of every life of the world. Almost everything in this world is run through the internet. The pandemic situation has made people more dependent on servers. From schooling to work from home, from business to deals, everything is run by the internet. Since the internet is a lifesaver of the entire world you need to have a secured and reliable server.
If you find yourself running out of cloud storage space or if your computer has slowed down recently, or even there are some privacy issues you are facing, a “Home Server” is probably the best solution for you. However, some may think that running your home server will be expensive but it certainly isn’t. it doesn’t even need much extensive knowledge. Only basic tech knowledge is sufficient for you to build up a home server.
What is a home server?
A home server is a system (computer) that works in a home network. It could be a simple computer having a large hard drive, enough memory, and a strong network connection. In maximum cases, you will find home servers serving as media storage. However, it’s just a miniature part. Its functions are unbelievably large than one thinks it is. Let’s have a look at the advantages and uses of a home server.
Why would you consider having a home server?
A home server functions efficiently and has tons of uses if used perfectly. Home servers can be unbelievably convenient to people who are working from home for the present situation. It can also be used for gaming, making your computer light by taking the load of it, managing data, taking backup, and many other functions.
You can even do your home automation and make your home a smart home with the help of a home server. It also has advanced usage such as creating your chat and email server. It can create your VPN servers too. Here in this guide, we have discussed the advantages of having your home server.
Benefits of Home server
A home server has endless usage and hence its benefits list is also long. Some of the benefits from the list are being discussed below.
- Provides a central location
You will find the files like music or videos scattered everywhere on the entire desktop. Some can also be seen simply on the desktop screen of the laptop or PC, whereas some may be hidden on an external hard drive buried somewhere at the bottom of the drawer.
As the media increases in your laptop, it gets more and more difficult to manage and arrange it in a proper manner which often leads to panic and frustration when you are not able to find a file you need urgently. For instance, let’s take a movie, the size of the movie can be several gigabytes (GB) and so the storage device getting full very quickly after storing some movies or high-quality videos isn’t a surprise.
There are chances that you have another copy of these files on different devices. Storing your media files on your home server provides you the confidence that the media is kept in a single device and that it can be removed as your home server is the home for the copies.
By doing this, you will not only free your valuable storage but also handle media management stress freely. If you are looking for power storage a server is much better than any other option. Storing your data on your home server is an efficient way of media management.
- Provides Automation and security
You can consider your home server as the best platform for a home automation system. Likewise, storing your files and documents on your home server and using it for your home automation provides a central place of control on all the smart devices, be it cooling, heating, or lightening system.
Nevertheless, if your home devices are controlled with physical remote or even if they are completely automated, having all of them managed and configured from your home server will make an efficient and appropriate way of your smart home management. The home server is also great for monitoring purposes.
This includes storing audio and video files which can get bigger from a simple monitor to a security camera of home. If you go further external, out of your home, your home server can be used to log data from smart devices like rain sensor that is attached out of your home.
If you want to use your home server as home automation and also as a security platform, there are several factors that you can consider to implement a successful system. You want to ensure the device you are using as your server is always functioning and performing its controlling and monitoring task so it needs to be reliable. You also would want to use the device with minimal energy; this will not only save your bucks on energy but make your home environment friendly. With a home server, you can avail these benefits.
- Always switched on
Powering up your laptop or PC to watch videos or play games is nothing new to anyone. After powering on your device, you wait for the device to start. After starting, it takes some time to display the icons on your desktop screen, and then comes the anti-virus scans, and then finally just before you hit play the system tells you to update the installs of software.
It’s frustrating to wait and ruin your mood of watching a movie or playing the game. After a long list of the process, you then get to play your favorite game or watch a movie. Nobody has time to wait for today’s date. In this fast life waiting even for a small time period also gets people frustrated. This is where your home server is needed.
The benefit of a home server is that it is powered on at any point in time and readily available for any kind of immediate action. No one has to wait for the booting and beginning sequence to get completed. Unless you choose to power down your server or a major electricity failure occurs, your home server won’t ever switch off.
- Not as expensive as people think
There is a misconception among everyone that the term “home server” needs to be heavy, large, and sometimes noisy as everyone would expect to see in a data center. The above conception is far from the actual truth as your home server can be as simple as the regular computer that is dedicated to performing certain tasks and serves you with particular needs.
There is just no need to keep your home server to keep in an expensive cool cupboard. You might be surprised to know but it is the fact that your home server can be placed quietly just behind your television if you prefer to do the same.
If you think that an expensive computer is needed to make it your home server, it’s also a myth. A budget-friendly computer can efficiently be used as your home server. While choosing a computer for your home serve,r there is few factors to consider.
- Compact: Make it a convenient storage
- Low power requirements: To save your money on electricity bills and also to save energy
- Connection option: It will allow connecting on smart devices
- Large storage: large capacity of storage will store all the data and files in a central location
- Inexpensive: Why buy expensive when the budget computer will work efficiently.
- Effective backup Solution
You must have heard it since you use your laptop that having a backup of your data is very important. This statement can never go wrong and is never obsolete that a backup of your data is truly very important.
If by any chance your hardware fails you can potentially lose your valuable data that have been gathered for years and that cannot be recovered anymore. To combat the situation a backup solution that is automated and easily available is recommendable.
Maybe your data and files are too old, but you can never imagine when and where you would need them. If the solution you are using to take a backup from a different location is manual then there are chances that you get tired and fed up with this mundane task and you wouldn’t want it to continue further.
Ideally, you should have a backup solution including onsite and offsite backup. Running a home server as your backup solution can be taken as the best backup option compared to the common onsite backups as they are easier and customizable, and can also be cheaper if you are using your old PC as a server.
Conclusion
Now that many of the myths of the home server are busted and you know the benefits of setting your home servers, you can also create your home server with your regular old computer. It is cheaper and can be made with the help of some basic tech knowledge. You don’t need to be a software expert to set your home server. Hope the discussion about the home server helped you.
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