Are you running SSP? Or a local server?
I have a lightweight NAS server available so I use "McMyAdmin" to run my own server. Even for "just me" this gives a couple of advantages:
1. an always up server means I benefit from chunkloading while my gaming PC is off.
2. The server and client are isolated from each others performance problems - so my client can render the area around me and the server can run ticks in all the chunkloaded chunks and does generation stuffs.
3. A web interface views the server status and manages a list of backups. (Its not that I don't trust the backup thing built into AoE, but, well, I don't trust the backup thing built into AoE).
4. Crashes in the client don't / can't corrupt the save game.
5. The McMyAdmin software is free for games < 10 players.
6. I have, periodically, set up port forwarding and opened the server to friends.