Cloud Hosting

PLEX HAS announced the full launch of its Cloud Server offering.

The popular multi-platform streaming server, which is used to send content from computers and NAS drives in a Netflix-style joined up library is baked in to several popular devices including WD's MyPassport Wireless range and NVIDIA's Shield TV console. It also has clients and players for everything from Blackberry to Chromecast.

The new edition which has been beta testing for some time allows users to add a server of content from Google Drive, Dropbox, OneDrive and Amazon storage, meaning that users no longer have to have a direct connection to their home to get the benefits.

Plex said, "The amount of technology behind this launch is quite awesome. It's definitely not a trivial thing to take the best media server on the planet and make it work seamlessly as a scalable cloud service, load-balanced and clustered across multiple geographic regions."

"It's been an incredible ride these last few months, with the Cloud team working across four continents to get things finalised for our public launch. Plex Cloud is the easiest way to get started with your own Plex server in seconds, and given the response we've seen (and the massive pool of people requesting invites to our beta program), we're thrilled to announce that all Plex Pass users can now take advantage of this amazing service."

PlexPass is the premium version of Plex, which offers enhanced features including streaming channels and a recently launched PVR (think Sky+) using HDHomerun, a popular DVB to IP tuner. It also acts as an optional beta programme for the adventurous. Although it is available as a subscription, it can also be bought on a lifetime licence for a very reasonable (we think) price. A free, more limited version is also available.

Some might see the addition of cloud to the Plex server as a slight contradiction, given that a lot of users choose it as a way of avoiding streaming services and centralised cloud storage, but for others who prefer to "own" their digital content, this could prove the missing link between on-premise and streaming they've been waiting for.

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Plex launches Cloud-based media servers for your mp3 and video collection - The INQUIRER