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What is a Media Server? Why Choose Emby?

sross44

Entry posted by sross44 in Emby

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If you’re new to the world of media servers, you might be wondering what they are, why people use them, and where Emby fits in. Whether you have a collection of movies, TV shows, music, personal videos, photos, or all of the above, a media server helps you take control of your entertainment.

Let’s break it down.

So, What Is a Media Server?

A media server is simply a system that allows you to store your media in one place and access it from anywhere — your TV, phone, tablet, computer, or even while on the go.

Instead of hunting through drives, folders, or different apps, a media server organizes and presents your library in a clean, familiar interface with artwork, descriptions, cast info, and more.

Think of it as your personal streaming service that is built around your collection, not someone else’s. An important note and one we can not stress enough, is that Emby does NOT provide any movies, shows, channels or other media. Emby is only for organizing and streaming YOUR own content. 

Why Choose Emby?

There may be several media server solutions out there, but Emby has a philosophy that sets it apart:

Your Media. Your Way.

With Emby, you are in control! Your library is yours, your privacy is yours, and your server is yours.

  • No forced cloud accounts.
  • No data harvesting.
  • No locked-down ecosystem.

Emby is built around choice and customization, allowing you to decide:

  • Where your media is store
  • How your library looks
  • Who can access it
  • What devices you stream to
  • Whether you want to manage media manually or automatically

All while keeping your experience intuitive and easy.

Beautiful and Powerful

Emby automatically fetches artwork, metadata, and episode information to make your library look amazing. The apps are clean, fast, and available across:

  • Smart TVs
  • Streaming boxes like Fire TV, Apple TV, Shield, Android TV
  • Android, iOS, and tablets
  • Game consoles
  • Web browsers

And with Emby Premiere, there's even more! You can unlock powerful features like:

  • Offline downloads
  • DVR with Live TV
  • Advanced parental controls
  • Hardware transcoding for smooth streaming

Whether you're just starting or you're a longtime media enthusiast, Emby scales with you.

This Is Just the Beginning

Over the next few days, we’ll walk through:

  1. How to install Emby
  2. How to add your media
  3. Tips for organizing your library
  4. And how to stream anywhere

So stay tuned — your personal media journey is just getting started.

Your Media. Your Way.
Welcome to Emby.

Edited by sross44

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11 Comments

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Chaffey

Chaffey 1

Posted

where is "How to install Emby"?

  • Agree 1
Chaffey

Chaffey 1

Posted

All I get is a blank screen showing localhost8096 etc.  No way to add content shown.  I don't know if I have installed Emby, or what it is doing (apparently SOMETHING will tell me "how to install Emby" and "How to add your media" in "the coming days".   Is there no info on how to start now?

Please tell me what to do to get Emby active.   Thank you

IAmHugh

IAmHugh 63

Posted

Why am I not surprised that the main post is naked from the waist down.

Chaffey

Chaffey 1

Posted

Does that mean that Emby is flawed?

seanbuff

seanbuff 1313

Posted

5 minutes ago, Chaffey said:

Please tell me what to do to get Emby active.

You can start here: Quick Start

IAmHugh

IAmHugh 63

Posted

That should of been either part of this thread or at minimum linked in this thread. Maybe someone can edit the first post and add that link and any other setup links?

2 minutes ago, Chaffey said:

Does that mean that Emby is flawed?

Yes.

Chaffey

Chaffey 1

Posted

Thank you, but I just get a blank screen at localhost etc.  It says the next steps are going to involve me being asked various things.  When does happen?

No one is asking me to add media, or create a user (It's unclear if I have accidentally created the user - )

Is there anywhere an "old person" can go to actually use Emby? 

Chaffey

Chaffey 1

Posted

Thank you, but all I get is a blank page.  Isn't some process supposed to start when I go to this screen?  Nothing happens.  

Sorry, I'm very confused about how to ACTUALLY load Emby, fill it with content (how?), and run it off FireCube.  Is there someplace that explains this?

 

arrbee99

arrbee99 1814

Posted

If you have a family member or friend who has Emby already, meaning they have their own media server which will send stuff they have (movies, TV series, etc) to your FireCube, then thats great.

If thats not whats happening, you need to have your own Movies, TV shows, etc on your own computer hard drives. You need to add / download your own copy of the Emby server to the computer. After thats installed you should be able to get into your server from a browser, like Chrome. Then you need to tell the server to add the stuff you have to the server so the server can sort through it and know its there. Then you need to add a separate Emby program to the FireCube so the FireCube can talk to you server on the computer and take stuff from there and play it on your TV screen.

I'm assuming the FireCube can't run Emby server - if it can, a fair bit of the above doesn't matter...

IAmHugh

IAmHugh 63

Posted

Fire Cube should be basically the same as Fire TV or Fire TV Stick, meaning as you said they will need to have either someone they know with a remote Emby instance or a Emby server instance on their PC.

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