How building a cheap home server could save you money in the long run

That hunk of plastic collecting dust in the basement might be more useful than you realized.

Being around technology or computers for any extended period of time means that you've likely accumulated a decent amount of hardware over the years. With new upgrades and changes to one's setup often comes a question about what to do with old stuff you don't use anymore, or what you can do with any new hardware you get your hands on.

It's a common question regarding what to do with old PCs or laptops, but one that has a few surprising answers. One that always springs to mind is the creation of a home server, which, if you're a family looking to build your own custom streaming hub or have your own free mass storage unit, is a fabulous bit of financial investment that could be immensely beneficial to you in the uncertain years ahead of us in the technology field.

Building a home server is also tantalizingly easy, as well, making the entire process one that is both painless and affordable. And in a time when things feel a bit more complex than they should, having something as straightforward as the construction of a media server that could save you money honestly feels like a slam dunk.

It can trim down your streaming services bill

In addition to your regular bills, one thing that most of us spend a lot of money on during each calendar month is streaming services. There are a lot of them, and nearly every major company in the world has decided to put a plus symbol next to its name in order to enter the streaming service arms race.

It can add up to quite a bit of money over four weeks, and one way to combat that is to build your own home server. With one of these at your disposal, your server becomes something of a custom media machine, where you can stream your own shows and movies as you please. It can greatly cut down on the number of streaming services you have, making things a little lighter on your wallet.

It's sometimes shocking to see how many streaming services a family of any size is subscribed to, and using a home server to offset that can really help you keep your monthly bill down to a more manageable number. Thanks to media servers like Plex, Jellyfin and countless other alternatives, you can populate your device with anything you want.

Great cost-cutting measures on mass storage

Huge parts of our personal lives are often stored in our digital archives, as so many of us have precious photos and videos logged on our devices. If you're someone who has a fairly hefty selection of files, or even just incredibly important documents, a home server can pull its weight by doubling as a mass storage device.

If you subscribe to any sort of cloud storage or data backup service, it can all start to add up over the year. With your own home server, you can cut those elements out, and the server itself can also be upgradeable over time. If you're ever in need of more storage, the act of buying more hard drives and installing them is a snap.

By resurrecting an old PC that's seen its last days as a daily, primary driver into a home server, you can save a fairly large chunk of cash on storage and home entertainment needs. It can also act as a sort of building block toward actual custom PC builds, and once you have a strong understanding of those things, you may find that you have quite a bit of extra cash in your account every month.

Source: Engadget