Dedicated windows media server

There are a bunch of the best open-source and free media server software available online that can set up on your own personal home computer. You can store all your media files in one place on the media server and can access them remotely or locally using a computer or smartphone. For example, you are out of town and want to access your movies or music, what you will do, just take out your smartphone enter your home media server address, and boom!!

Using media servers you can create your own personal YouTube, Netflix, and Vimeo. Some Media servers based on lightweight Linux, which means to save electricity and other resources you can install them on Rasberry Pi. Here we have listed Free and Open source Media server software to be used in that can be work on both Linux and Windows.

We already have a done couple of articles on Plex and it really has some great features that allow it in our best media server list.

The Plex media server is not open-source instead of freemium software and offers some features on a subscription base only. However, still here because of its easy to use and install capabilities.

Whereas the Plex player comes under both freemium and open source license GPL v2. Due to its vast range of devices support the Plex continuously gaining popularity as a media streamer. The Plex media server is based on a client-server model. It offers a wide range of client apps for different devices to support and stream its media server content easily. Get it.

Kodi provides a bit different media server software approach. It works more as a local media streamer rather than functions a server-client relationship like PLEX. It was developed as an XMBC open-source media center and still distributed under open source licenses. It plays content from two sources one is locally saved content and the second is via plugins.

It has a vast range of Addon for popular web services, applications, and scripts such as Pluto. Emby is a great and best free Media server similar to Plex in features and user interface. While Plex is a closed source or freemium, Emby is totally open-source media server software. In comparison to Plex, the Emby is much easier to install for newbies and you can see our article: How to Install Emby media server, step by the step installation process.

Transcoding is taking one type of file and making it compatible to play or view on most devices computer, tablet, smartphone, fire tv, etc. Transcoding usually uses a significant amount of processing power. The QNAP has a quad-core 2. So, the QNAP is a bit faster but is barely more expensive. I suggest either one of these units as a NAS enclosure option!

A computer set up as a NAS media server is basically a computer that is specifically being used to distribute files and media. Generally, a computer set up as a NAS media server should be dedicated to this task, and maybe a few smaller tasks. It should not be bogged down by other processes such as web browsing and everyday typical computer uses.

The nice thing about using a normal computer as a media server is that you have a ton of flexibility! Between the hardware, operating system, applications, etc. All NAS enclosures and almost all desktop computers will use 3. There are many different types of hard drives out there. They are usually designated with a color such as red, blue, green, black, purple, or gold.

Each of these colored drives should be used in a certain area. NAS drives are designated with the color Red. They are slotted to fit inside a NAS enclosure. Red drives also support RAID redundant array of independent disks configurations. Without getting too complicated, there are two raid configurations applicable to most NAS enclosures and computers for media servers.

Any RAID configuration should use identical hard drives. This means you are able to use the full capacity of both drives and should achieve twice the read and write performance. However, with this RAID configuration, if one of the drives stops working, you will lose the data on both drives. It is not very reliable and typically not recommended. But this means you sacrifice half of your total storage amount.

In the event that one drive fails, you will still have an exact copy of that data. For more info on RAID configurations, check out this video. I definitely suggest using identical, red, NAS hard drives in a NAS enclosure or computer being used as a media server. Realistically, you should get a fairly large amount of storage. Get more than you expect that you will need. Realistically, you should get as much storage that will fit in the NAS enclosure or computer and that you can afford.

For an average user, 4TB will probably be plenty. Installing hard drives is very simple. NAS enclosures have drive trays that can be removed from the enclosure. To install a hard drive into a desktop computer, remove the case cover, mount the hard drive into one of the available 3.

The process of actually installing the hard drives should take no longer than minutes. Next, you need to connect the NAS media server to the home network. Delivering high-quality media to different devices will require a high network speed. Keep in mind that internet speed is different than network speed. You will notice a pretty significant increase in performance with higher transfer speeds. Once the media server has been connected to the network, we can now transfer the media and other files to it and install any necessary applications.

These servers provide you with a lot of multimedia such as TV shows, movies, music or games, etc. Most importantly, the storage is ensured in a centralized way, and you will not face any haphazard situation. Times of using local media servers have become old now.

If we talk about Microsoft, the Windows home server has become obsolete, whereas the Windows media center is in phase-out stages. But still, a person can run a home media server and enjoy its flawless streaming on all devices.

Thus without any extra applications or cumbersome steps, one can easily have access to their content or impeccably stream it through a home network on a range of devices. The connectivity is easy and convenient whether it is TV, Smartphone, tablet or laptop. Recommended to Read : Best Laptops to Buy in So if you are serious about setting up a Home server, then there are some of the basic requirements of hardware components.

The nitty-gritty or the essential requirements of any Home based media server are explained below. The most important and one of the basic requirements is having connectivity. Connectivity can be ensured using WiFi or an Ethernet cable connection. Though using cable is an old concept now, and honestly, you have to run hundreds of meters of cables that are not only tedious but also do not look good.

Moreover, the faster and lag-free your connection is, the better the picture you get. For flawless 4k streaming, it is recommended to use a quality router having good coverage and gain. Another key element of home media server hardware is storage. How much storage you need depends on your requirements. How much media are you going to store on your home server? Terabytes of storage are going to cost you more. But having more storage means having a bulk of data where you shall have got almost everything.

As an alternate, if you are tight on budget, you can buy a less storage drive or use some old PC hardware. Any device that can play a part of a server will be a good option.

But in our view, currently, the best options are stated above. Last but to be honest, the backbone of any perfect home media server is its perfect software. However, there are various options such as Plex, Kodi or Media Server. Each has its pros and cons. We have written a complete detailed article on comparing Plex and Media Server and then how to choose between the two.

Please give it a read here. Kodi is a bit more complex, whereas Plex is the easiest and user-friendly to set up.