These days, it’s hard to find the right software for a media server. The sheer number of options is enough to confuse the average user and make them feel like they have too many choices. In this article, we’ll talk about what media server software is and what it can do for you. We will also talk about the best five media server programs for Windows in 2022.
What is Media Server Software?
Media server software is a program that lets you store and distribute all of your media, like video, audio, photographs, etc., across the network of your choice. This is helpful because you can use it to stream and share these types of media over the system on any device you want. For instance, you could use your phone to upload photos and videos you took with it to the media server software. You can then use your laptop or smart TV to view them later.
How does the Media Server work?
Media server software is a shared server between the device you use to log in to the software account and the device you use to play media. It saves all your data on the server it gives you and lets you access it from anywhere and on any device.
These servers use various technical methods to let users access their media. There is direct file download, progressive download, pseudo streaming, adaptive bitrate broadcasting, and so on. There are also different ways to code things.
What is Media Server VPS?
A media server VPS is a virtual private server that stores the client’s media on the host server. This differs from normal media server software, which also stores the media on a server. The clients can get to their media, though, with the help of a software application.
On the other hand, in a media server VPS, all you have to do to get to the media is log into your VPS service. A media server VPS could also be set up to be as good for streaming as possible. Some of these VPS providers may have media server software like Plex installed. Using Cloudzy’s Windows VPS Europe, you can set up your own media server VPS.
What benefits does Media Server Software have?
The best thing about hosting your media server software is that you can use it from anywhere and at any time. Utilizing them is also a good way to save space in your storage area. If you want your media on more than one device, it will take the same amount of space on each one.
But if you have media server software, a one-time upload to the host server will save you all the storage space, but it will use up all your bandwidth. Last but not least, sharing your media easily through a single piece of software is also a big plus.
What’s streaming?
Streaming is a way to get and share audio and video files. It depends on a steady stream of data without downloading the information to the client’s hardware. In the past few years, this efficient way to play back media has become very popular, especially because more famous streaming services, such as Netflix, Amazon Prime, Apple TV, etc., have become mainstream.
But some of the content on these platforms is locked so that it can’t be seen in some places. For instance, the client needs to have an account in Europe to watch a certain TV show. If this happens to you on any streaming service, you can use Cloudzy’s guide to set up your video streaming server.
Best Streaming and Media Server Software in 2022
Without further ado, let’s list the top five multimedia servers and streaming applications for 2022.
Plex
When it concerns media server software and streaming services, Plex is a name everyone knows. You can watch movies and TV shows on Plex, but you can also watch the material you manually upload.
Plex lets you upload many files, which is great for families who want to keep all of their photos and recordings in one place. It’s available on more than one platform, works with DVRs and TVs, and instantly syncs all your uploads so you can access them anywhere and at any time.
Stremio
Another big streaming service and media server software that competes with Plex is called Stremio. Stremio also gives you a bunch of hosted TV shows and movies as part of its service. Stremio does give you access to some live TV networks, though.
Stremio is recognized for its DLNA server, which makes it easy to organize your uploads into libraries and other types. Stremio also works on several different platforms and is designed to work well on any device, such as smartphones and tablets.
Kodi
Kodi is known for giving up many of the benefits that other apps like Plex and Stremio have to give its users the best experience possible when watching movies. Kodi has full-screen support and an interactive sub-menu that can be used on TVs, iOS and Android phones, and tablets, among other things.
Kodi also works well with MIDI, MPEG-1, MPEG-2, and MPEG-4 files and different types of encoded files. This makes it easy for you to upload all of your files, no matter what format or bitrate they are in, and have them work at any time.
Jellyfin
Jellyfin is free, which differs from the other three options we discussed. But it also doesn’t let you watch or listen to TV shows, movies, or music made by anyone else. Instead, Jellyfin makes it easy to stream anything from your server. So, Jellyfin is really for you if you want software that only works with your files and is a media server.
Mezzmo
Mezzmo is another piece of software for a media server. It has its library of content and lets clients upload and utilize their content at any time. Mezzmo is known for having a lot of different options, such as audio support for different languages, performances made for home theaters, and browser support. Mezzmo is the best if you don’t want to install any software but still want all the benefits of media server software.
Conclusion
When it involves choosing the best media server software, there are a lot of choices. Each of these choices has features that set it apart from the others and make it better for some people than others. Some focus more on characteristics that make each other more useful for a small group of people. You can use the five examples above to figure out what media server software you need.
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