What sets Plex apart is how well it organizes media, and how pretty the whole interface looks. Streaming players from the PS4 (but not the PS5) to Roku devices have media server apps built in even Windows Media Player works as a pretty passable media server in a pinch. Granted, media servers are a dime a dozen.

“The cloud” is really just “a computer somewhere else that’s always turned on.” I’m sorry to be the one to deliver this news. This is also precisely how streaming services like Netflix, Hulu and Amazon Video deliver video to you, just with some extra steps in-between. By using the Plex app on another computer, a mobile device or a streaming gadget plugged into your TV, you can stream content from your computer to another platform of your choice. You direct the Plex software to this folder, and Plex then makes your computer available as a server. While Plex itself can walk you through the process of setting up a media server, it works like this: You provide your own video content, and put it in a special folder somewhere on your computer.

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