[0x0aff374668]

Why are so many folks here running media servers? Are you really streaming your own video / audio libraries, or is there something else it is useful for? I'd be rather shocked to learn people still store digitally media locally.

[Santosh83]

If you don't have it locally, you don't have it at all. Repeatedly streaming video & audio over the Internet is not only wasteful of bandwidth but also prone to connection quality issues and of course arbitrary takedowns by the content provider. If you purchase media you should have the right to remove DRM and have at least one local copy and one backup copy for your personal use.

[Jaruzel]

I do. I have over 1,000 CDs losslessly ripped on my media server. I stream these around the house into good quality amps and speakers, and also down convert them to mp3 for portable devices. I don't like being held hostage by streaming services who one day may suddenly remove all the music that I like just because not enough people are listening to it. That'll never happen to my CDs - they are mine and no-one, bar a burglar, can take them away from me.

I also used to have all my DVDs ripped onto my media server, but I never really watched any of them, so now they are just gathering digital dust on some offline disks.

[mackrevinack]

im making moves to go back to storing music myself. I used to say to myself that couldn't afford all the music I listen to but now looking at the stupid amount of money ive given spotify over the years I'm thinking that maybe I could.

the other thing that is bothering me is that songs keep dissappearing from my playlists every once in a while

people keeping their own movie library makes perfect sense as there are still no services today, that I know of, that have access to all movies a certain person might want, or if they do the service is basterdised by some region lock

[AYBABTME]

I use it for my boat (offgrid) & for travels, so we're not stuck behind regional content filters, like mid-way a series and we arrive in a new country and it's not on Netflix here.

[0x0aff374668]

This is the coolest response. :)

(You didn't by any chance sail around Cape horn in 2016? I met this really cool older couple in Central America who had been living at sea for 17 years.)

Reading all of the replies I realize that sometime between 2007 and 2012 I just gave up entirely on storing media locally. I don't watch movies (e.g. no cable or netflix), but I've been using spotify for a decade maybe? One response makes a good point: it is a waste of overall bandwidth to stream content.

[Youden]

I want a single platform that allows me to conveniently access all the media I want to consume, now and for forever. There's no other way to have one, it's that simple.

Sure I could buy DRM-laden stuff from some online store but there's no guarantee I can access it forever. I could buy a bunch of Blu-Rays or DVDs and stick them on a shelf but that's not convenient. I could pay for a subscription service but not a single one has anything close to everything I want to watch.

[cannonedhamster]

Plex automatically backs up me entire families photos to my RAIDed server with a Backblaze off-site backup that's been tested. It's also useful for audio books, and having access to my media when I travel abroad and things like Hulu, Amazon Prime, and Netflix don't really have much available. I also have a ton of old DVDs saved on there that aren't available anymore to watch online or television.