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This guide will take you through the basic steps of running your own streaming service using a common and powerful media software called Plex. Ever thought about running your own streaming service? It's actually easier than you might think, and there are a number of ways you can do it. The safe option is to buy it and then work out a way to make it accessible wherever you are. Say you want to watch all 236 episodes of Friends, but know that Netflix is going to lose it to another service soon. With downloads or physical media, this isn't an issue, because once you've bought it, you'll have access to it for life (that's the theory anyway). You can install it on a desktop computer, a dedicated server, or get a pre-made NAS device that supports the server software.Video streaming is great - until you lose access to the movie or TV show that you assumed would always be available on Netflix and Amazon Video.
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Plex and Media Browser both offer servers that run on Windows, Linux, Mac OS X, BSD, and various NAS devices. You could also try Kodi, formerly known as XBMC - it can be a bit more complicated to set up and works a bit differently. Both work similarly, offering a server you install on a desktop PC, laptop, NAS device, or dedicated home server. The two biggest solutions to recommend are probably Plex and Media Browser. RELATED: How to Set Up a NAS (Network-Attached Storage) Drive These apps often allow you to browse and access photos, too - perfect if you’re the type of person who keeps a local photo collection, too. If you have a large collection of local video and music files - perhaps videos ripped from DVDs and music ripped from audio CDs - this may be the ideal way to access that content on all your devices without relying on streaming services like Netflix and Spotify. There are some good free software packages for this, but you’ll need to bring your own media. RELATED: Why You Should Connect a PC to Your TV (Don't Worry It's Easy!)
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