What Can You Do With a Server at Home

Running your ain server at home may sound similar an expensive and complicated undertaking reserved for those with all-encompassing technical knowledge. However, setting up a dwelling house network server is relatively cheap and requires but basic tech knowledge.

Contents

What is a home server?
Why you should consider having a home server
What can you use a dwelling server for?
It'southward more than affordable than y'all think
How to ready a domicile server
The pros and cons of home servers vs deject

What is a home server?

A home server is a computer that functions in a home network. Information technology can be a unproblematic personal calculator with a large difficult drive, sufficient memory, and a network connection. In most cases, home servers serve as media storage, but this is merely the tip of the iceberg. Let'southward have a look at how you can use it, the benefits of a home server, and how to set it up.

Why you should consider having a home server

A domicile server can have tons of uses, and it tin be incredibly convenient for those who now take to work from dwelling house because of the pandemic. It tin can exist used for storing and managing data, gaming, taking the load off your personal calculator, web hosting, and even home automation (more than on that later).

It can too have more advanced uses. With a home server, y'all can run a Tor node or your own email and chat server, or fifty-fifty create a abode VPN server. However, some of these may require more technical know-how. For at present, allow'southward take a look at some of the more popular uses.

What can you use a abode server for?

So, what can y'all do with home servers? Hither's a more than in-depth wait at why having a server at home is a adept idea.

Provides a central location to store your media

Remember about all the unlike media, like photos, movies, or music, stored on each of your devices: your laptop, tablet, and mobile phone. Now accept into account your entire family unit's devices and media — keeping track of and managing all those files can be a bit of a hassle.

Then there's the size of those files. For example, a movie can have up a few gigabytes, and any cinephile will agree that the space on your computer runs out pretty fast.

A habitation media server is an excellent way to gratuitous up storage and take all those media files in one place. Instead of keeping your unabridged household'southward files scattered across unlike devices, setting upward a home server lets you save that data in one centralized location. Since the server is continued to your dwelling house network, anyone in your family can access and play the media in existent fourth dimension from their ain devices. This also makes file sharing between family members easier.

Takes the load off your principal PC

Playing media does accept up a meaning amount of your reckoner's processing power. And so, let's say you want to do some work on your laptop and play a movie in the background. In this case, a dwelling house server tin take care of playing the flick so you can smoothly multitask without the hazard of your personal calculator crashing.

Automatic data fill-in to a abode server

Backing up all your data is essential. Ane click on a malicious link or simply a clumsy motion with a loving cup of coffee next to your laptop, and all that precious data is gone.

A home backup server can be an fantabulous solution for keeping your data rubber. Yous tin too dorsum up your files with NordLocker. It not simply encrypts your files and protects them from any prying eyes just also allows y'all to choose where to continue them: on your calculator or in the NordLocker cloud.

Web serving

Thinking of starting a blog? If you want complete control over the website's management, or you're not keen on paying for a hosting service, a habitation server can do the chore. While it won't handle millions of users, your old computer can perform virtually the same every bit a hosting service up to a certain amount of traffic.

Web proxy

Just like with website hosting, y'all tin can ready a home server proxy. A proxy functions as a gateway between your device and the internet. There's enough of software and online tutorials that volition take y'all through setting up, configuring, and opening the correct ports for your proxy.

However, go along in mind that a personal proxy won't give you the same privacy and security as a VPN.

Provides a platform for home automation and security

A home automation server is the perfect centralized platform to manage your smart abode from. You can manage heating, lighting, or IoT dwelling appliances from a centralized server to optimize free energy saving, or you lot can use it as a control panel for all your home security systems.

Online gaming

Some online multiplayer games offering dedicated server software and then the players can host games on their own home servers. This enables yous to play multiplayer games with improved performance and stability. Not to mention yous will have the opportunity to customize your gameplay however you want.

Bonus: connect your server to a VPN

Install a VPN on your dwelling server. This tin can be compatible with nearly other home server applications, nevertheless may require extra configurations to part properly. Merely, if you lot're up for information technology, it will add together actress features and security to your server. By rerouting your internet connection through a VPN server, you'll exist able to secure it from snoopers.

Additionally, you can opt for a dedicated IP. Services like NordVPN offer this feature. With it, you tin have a secure dedicated IP accost and whitelist it. This manner, merely those with a specific IP will be able to connect to the server.

Information technology'due south more than affordable than y'all call up

A home server setup doesn't take to be wildly expensive. It'southward cheaper than getting a brand new computer since it doesn't crave a desktop, a mouse, or a keyboard. Depending on what you demand information technology for, you can use an erstwhile reckoner you abandoned before opting for new tech — in this case, it's entirely free.

You can also build dwelling servers from scratch, hunting for cheaper parts individually. All in all, depending on how powerful you want it to exist and whether or not you have an onetime computer to re-change, it can range from a few bucks to a few hundred.

How to fix upwards a home server

The complexity of the setup depends on what you're going to apply it for. Each of the higher up server functions may require different configurations and even unlike hardware. However, that doesn't hateful your dwelling house server has to be limited to 1 use merely. Whatever you make up one's mind, to prepare your server, follow these main steps:

Become the hardware. You lot tin can repurpose an old computer you lot no longer use. Information technology doesn't have to be powerful, so don't exist agape to use an older machine. You lot may need to upgrade parts like RAM, storage, or the cooling arrangement, but it probably won't cost besides much. Alternatively, you lot can purchase a server. There are quite a few budget options available, so it shouldn't toll you more than a few hundred dollars.
NAS devices are also often used as home servers. Depending on your requirements, there are plenty of options to choose from. They are easier to utilise than regular servers, but you also have less room for customization.
Choose the operating organisation. Y'all can choose from whatsoever of the major operating systems, including Ubuntu, Unraid, Amahi, and others. Which operating organization best suits your server more often than not depends on the kind of operations you desire the server to run. Gamers might benefit from Unraid, while family unit members may adopt FreeNAS. Ubuntu is the well-nigh versatile, as you tin use it equally a file hub, streaming portal, or even a remote direction system for your IoT devices.
What kind of software will it run? Habitation server software too comes downwards to what you'll be using your server for. But your decision doesn't have to be set in stone — you tin modify, upgrade, and reconfigure your home server software any time yous want to try something new.

The pros and cons of domicile servers vs cloud

You lot might exist wondering whether it's worth the effort to set your own server rather than move all your data to a deject storage. Here'due south what you should consider:

Security. When you lot operate a server, you're the just one responsible for security, and it'due south your job to take the necessary measures to protect your files. However, when signing up with a cloud provider, y'all're handing your security over to somebody else.
Privacy. Yous don't know how your data will be stored in the cloud and who will accept access to it. Having a server guarantees that you're in accuse of your data and can decide whom to share information technology with.
Price. Setting up a decent server at home can cost you at least a couple of hundred dollars, whereas a basic deject subscription should cost no more than $5 a month. All the same, the more cloud storage space and boosted features you need, the more you'll have to pay.
Risk. If any natural disaster happens, your server might be broken and your data lost forever. If yous want to back upwards your files like a pro, you need to use cloud storage.
Speed. Depending on the hardware you apply, your server might be extremely fast or super slow. With a deject, it's a different story, as your speed heavily depends on your internet connection.

You can as well use a hybrid deject arrangement and combine an in-firm server with cloud storage. This way, y'all tin run some of your operations in the deject and others on your server. All the same, this type of solution is generally used past enterprises and is not typical among home users.

Setting up a habitation server is convenient, relatively inexpensive, and a keen learning feel. With little to no investment and some research, y'all can turn your local network into a data hub for your friends or family.

Take your privacy into your own hands.

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Sybil Andrea success Verified author

Sybil spends her days browsing the net, which is where she started to acquire well-nigh cyber security. She believes that everyone should have the right to get online safely, so now she shares her insights as a NordVPN content writer.

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Source: https://nordvpn.com/blog/home-server/