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144 Part II: Intermediate
Step 4: Set Up a Media Server for Your Household
If you find that trying to play songs stored in libraries that keep disappearing off the
network is too tedious, another option is to set up a media server for your household.
In the old days, a server would be a dedicated computer that you kept running the
whole time, but there??™s also a modern alternative that you may find preferable??”a
network-aware drive or an external hard drive connected to a network router.
If you have an old computer that you can turn into a server, and you??™re prepared
to leave it running the whole time, cranking up your electricity bill, the server is a
good option. But if getting a server would mean buying a new computer, a network
drive may be a better choice. Let??™s look at the network drive option first.
This section assumes that you??™re using the server primarily to share media files??”but you can
also use it to share other files (such as documents or spreadsheets) or to back up files.
Choose a Network Drive
A network drive tends to be a neater solution than running a full-bore server??”and it
is usually much lighter on the electricity than is a server. And if you??™re really lucky,
you may already have a network router that can share a drive. So start by making
sure you know the capabilities of your network router.
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