Purpose
By definition a media server is a device that simply stores and shares media. This definition is vague, and can allow several different devices to be called Media Servers. It may be a simple Network-attached storage, a Home theater PC (HTPC) running Windows XP Media Center Edition, MediaPortal or MythTV, or a commercial web server that hosts media for a large web site. In a home setting, a media server acts as an aggregator of information: video, audio, photos, books, etc. These different types of media (whether they originated on DVD, CD, digital camera, or in physical form) are stored on the media server's hard drive. Access to these is then available from a central location. It may also be used to run special applications that allow the user(s) to access the media from a remote location via the internet.
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Famous quotes containing the word purpose:
“A doctrine serves no purpose in itself, but it is indispensable to have one if only to avoid being deceived by false doctrines.”
—Simone Weil (1909–1943)
“The very purpose of existence is to reconcile the glowing opinion we have of ourselves with the appalling things that other people think about us.”
—Quentin Crisp (b. 1908)
“What if we fail to stop the erosion of cities by automobiles?... In that case America will hardly need to ponder a mystery that has troubled men for millennia: What is the purpose of life? For us, the answer will be clear, established and for all practical purposes indisputable: The purpose of life is to produce and consume automobiles.”
—Jane Jacobs (b. 1916)