IceWhale Tech has officially launched ZimaBoard 2 on Kickstarter, and it’s more than just a refresh; it’s a complete reinvention of the modular x86 single-board server. Designed for developers, DIYers, homelab enthusiasts, and privacy-focused users, it features a compact form factor while delivering serious computing power.

ZimaBoard 2 Specifications

ZimaBoard 2 comes equipped with the Intel N150 processor, offering up to 3x faster CPU performance than the previous model. It supports up to 16GB of next-gen DDR5 memory and sports dual 2.5G Ethernet ports for high-speed networking and ultra-low latency. It also features PCIe 3.0 expandability, enabling users to add network cards, GPUs, or SSDs for AI projects, local computing tasks, and multi-port network setups.

The board retains its signature palm-sized design but now sports a sleeker, fanless enclosure for silent operation. It comes with a Mini DisplayPort 1.4 for crisp 4K output and dual SATA ports for easy NAS configuration. With support for up to 36TB of storage and RAID configurations, ZimaBoard 2 transforms into a powerful personal cloud server with ease.

Out of the box, it ships with ZimaOS, a custom Linux-based system derived from CasaOS. ZimaOS features an intuitive file manager, centralized data imports from USBs, Dropbox, and Samba devices, and a high-speed backup tool. The integrated App Store equips the board with popular apps like Plex, Jellyfin, Home Assistant, and Frigate, allowing it to serve as a private home theater, smart home hub, or AI-powered surveillance system.

ZimaBoard 2 also functions as a soft router, running OpenWrt or pfSense with VPN, firewall, ad-blocking, and real-time traffic monitoring. It supports advanced tools like MITM proxy and Wireshark to decrypt HTTPS traffic and detect anomalies from smart devices, ensuring security and transparency across your home network.

Pricing

It is now available for global pre-order on Kickstarter, with ZimaBoard 2 starting at an early bird price of $169. It comes in multiple kits: Mini NAS Kit, Smart Home Kit, and Master Kit, each tailored to unlock a different layer of its powerful potential.

We also reviewed the first iteration of ZimaBoard; feel free to check it out.

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The post ZimaBoard 2 Launches on Kickstarter with Intel N150, PCIe 3.0, Dual 2.5G LAN, and ZimaOS appeared first on Gizmochina.

ZimaBlade

Previously we have used and reviewed ZimaBoard, the world’s First Hackable Single Board Server with amazing possibilities. ZimaBoard, as a modularized Single Board Server, was truly impressive with its unique design and customizability. In the niche market of geeks, the ZimaBoard has been widely welcomed. But they don’t seem to want to stop there. The brand is taking it a step further with a tool more focused on protecting digital freedom, which is the ZimaBlade, another x86 personal server. It’s particularly designed for local execution and control of everything from file sharing and media playback to key management and encrypted P2P transmission. For a simple example, build up a private network storage with the NAS kit it offers.

The ZimaBlade is even designed in a more compact size, however, with more powerful performance and a more special look!

Unboxing

The packaging of ZimaBlade is unexpectedly small, similar to the size of some mobile phone charger boxes, which was hard to convince me at first that there was an x86 server inside. But it truly is. The whole package is in black design, with the product picture on the front, where it’s worth paying attention to the packaging and the three symbols. It reminds me of the Netflix animated series– Love, Death & Robots.

That’s pretty cool. Inside the package, apart from the machine, there is a SATA cable, a type-c power cable, a user manual, and two stickers.

Design

ZimaBlade uses a solid card-like design. Two screws on the front to fix a transparent plate with a rugged, custom enclosure. You can clearly see the elegant PCB. The bottom and side of the enclosure use a whole piece of protecting metal, which has direct contact with the CPU for passive heat dissipation. This unique design balances the overall design aesthetics with practicality. I really like it as I can completely disassemble it in less than a minute and have very easy access to the ports and terminal on the motherboard.

In terms of connectivity and expandability, one side of the motherboard has a full-featured USB-C port, another USB 3.0 port, a 1GBE (Gigabit Ethernet) network port and a mini-DP port, while the other has two SATA 3.0 ports and a SATA Power port. The motherboard also provides two USB 2.0 terminals, and a 4-pin fan terminal. And of course, the most important is the pcie2.0 x4 Slot.

With the dual SATA 3 ports and PCIe slots, the ZimaBlade can provide wide expandability like creating a personal NAS with up to 154TB of storage and accessing data over either a Wi-Fi module or an Ethernet connection.

Also, in my eyes as a Desk-aesthetic fanatic, it’s probably the coolest device on my entire desktop – Well, ZimaBoard, you’re a close second.

Connectivity/Expandability specs

– 1 x mini DP 1.2 (4K/60Hz)

– 1 x Full Function C-port (Display, data, power support)

– 1 x Gigabit Ethernet port

– 1 x USB 3.0 Type-A

– 2 x USB 2.0 Type-A

– 2 x SATA 3.0

– 1 x PCI 2.0 x4 Slot

– 1 x SODIMM slot, compatible with 16 GB DDR3L RAM max.

– Build-in 32GB eMMC Storage

Performance

The ZimaBlade gives a wide range of options. The version I got is a basic variant – ZimaBlade 3760, powered by an Intel® Celeron N3350 dual-core processor. Apart from the dual-core model, there are also qual-core variants for options, powered by Celeron J3455 or E3950.

Focusing back to the standard N3350 processor. It has a good and stable performance in terms of network packet forwarding, personal storage, and working as a web server. It’s worth noting that the ZimaBlade is officially available in an off-system version, and with the sodimm slot on the motherboard, it can be fitted with up to 16GB of DDR3L RAM, which means that the ZimaBlade is more than capable of running multiple dockers.

I also tested the ZimaBlade’s cooling performance by configuring the ZimaBlade for use as a NAS and copying 80GB files over the LAN-connecting network. The surface temperature of the ZimaBlade was around 45°C, which is a very good result, but of course, if you are in a hot area, installing an external fan via the 4-pin connection or increasing the passive cooling area is a wiser solution.

CasaOS

ZimaBlade comes pre-installed with CasaOS (Based on Debian), which is a lightweight open-source home automation system. When used with ZimaBlade, you can deploy multiple Docker apps with a single click from the CasaOS app shop, which allows you to configure ZimaBlade as a home server with no complicated setups and no command line.

Of course, CasaOS also supports adding repositories and installing third-party applications. ZimaBlade with casaos is perfect as a first personal server for entry geek users. And the brand’s Discord server has over 12,000 members who are participating in discovering all the possibilities from the ZimaBlade series. If you’re learning how to build your own digital security and personal servers, that should be a good club for learning.

Or if you’re tired of secondary customization or modification, the over 20-pre-installed apps and 50+ verified apps also can boost your experience with the ZimaBlade. You can easily access downloaders, data management, entertainment, utilities and so on.

Pcie Slot

The ZimaBlade offers a Pcie 2.0 × 4 slot. If you want to set up NAS, the Pcie to 5-port SATA III Adapter can support connecting a 100TB+ (Max. 154TB) hard drive to store your data securely locally. If you use PCIe to 4-Port 2.5G Ethernet Adapter, you can use ZimaBlade as a hardware router or Video monitoring server.

Of course, if you need higher transfer speeds, ZimaBlade also supports 10G Ethernet Adapter and NVME Adapter.

Anyway, all these accessories and modules from ZimaBlade’s official website are pretty recommendable, as all of them should have been verified for compatibility.

By far all the modules we collected from the official store have worked pretty well without any problems. Here’re all the modules and adapters we tested and recommended for the ZimaBlade players:

• m.2 NGFF TO PCIE
• PCIe to 4-Channel USB Adapter
• PCIe×4 to 10 Gigabit Ethernet
• PCIe×4 to 4-Port 2.5 Gigabit Ethernet
• PCIe to 5-Port SATA Adapter

Conclusion

The ZimaBlade’s great look and expandability are unmatched by any other mass-productive device in its class, and another important message we want to share with you is that the ZimaBlade has better performance than Raspberry Pi. At the same time, considering the prices as low as $64, we couldn’t find any reasonable alternatives for it. At least for the moment, the ZimaBlade is perfect as a first personal server for entry-level geeks.

If you’ve been a bit excited about the ZimaBlade, we really recommend you check out the link here to learn more.

The post ZimaBlade Review: Modulerized Single Board Server for Cyber Native appeared first on Gizmochina.

Last month we received an exciting gadget: the ZimaBoard, the world’s First Hackable Single Board Server, which is something that most users may not have heard of. It’s a Single Board Server, similar to the Raspberry Pi, but designed with a more premium build. It’s one of the most complete low-cost single-board servers exclusively designed for geeks and small studios. It is both an expandable x86 single board computer (SBC) and an appropriate micro server. Now that the price of the Raspberry Pi has gone up, it might be a good idea to consider buying a more expandable, more advanced ZimaBoard.

Unboxing

From the size of the box alone, the ZimaBoard is a very compact server. The package includes some necessary accessories. Apart from the manual, there is one SATA cable and two stickers. And now if you buy a ZimaBoard, there are two extra small boxes with a 12V/3A Power Adapter and another SATA cable. There is only one thing you need to have on hand to connect your monitor – a Mini-Display cable. I really appreciate its minimalist packaging design, which reduces the cost of unnecessary accessories and contributes to it being one of the most affordable models in its category.

Design

The advantages of the ZimaBoard as a competitor to the Raspberry Pi are pretty obvious. The all-metal heat sink on the top plus the cool design has already made it a winner from the looks. The metal heat sink is also a great design to keep the temperature down for the motherboard. Compared with other high-power-consumed devices with bulky fans, such passive cooling is obviously a smarter design for the ZimaBoard to get rid of fan noise, and makes it suitable for all kinds of working scenarios.

If you’re using it as a Mini PC, you definitely want it to look better on your desktop. It can even be used as a part of the deco and enhance the texture and sense of the desk setup.

Interfaces

As a compact single board Server, the ZimaBoard has a surprisingly large variety of ports, even if we could say it’s crazy how it utilizes every surface. It has 2* USB 3.0, one DC input port, one MiniDP port, and 2* Gigabit Ethernet LAN ports on the back. All of them are just fitted into the compact server less than the size of the latest smartphones. Honestly, although sometimes I still needed to use a USB hub for expansion, I would have no complaints at all.

These two network ports mean that it’s welcome to be used as a Software Router by tinkering the network with OpenWrt and pfSense. Here you can add up multiple features for your networks or just integrate the ZimaBoard with a safe VPN that protects your digital footprint. And they are just two of the practical examples we’ve tried. When the expandability of the x86 architecture is exploited, it actually has endless possibilities.

We’re not done talking about its physical expandability. The ZimaBoard has extra storage connectivity, including two SATA 3.0 ports and a SATA Power port on the front, and a PCIe 2.0×4 Slot on the right side. They give the ZimaBoard more welcome applications, and you can use it as a multi-functional device: if you connect it with a SATA HDD, it can be turned into a Network Attached Storage (NAS) to build your personal cloud storage; if you connect it with a PCIe wireless network adapter, it can be turned into a wireless router running software like OpenWRT. In short, it can help you DIY most electronic devices.

Versions

This ZimaBoard 832 we got is powered by the Intel Celeron N3450 processor, running 8GB Ram + 32GB ROM. This version is priced at $199, of course, there are also lower-priced versions. The 432 version cuts the Ram to 4GB, while the 216 version offers another Celeron N3350 processor with 2+16GB. But the interface and metal heat sink are all included. So the 216 version, which is priced close to the Raspberry Pi, is actually very worth buying.

CasaOS & Applicaitons

ZimaBoard comes with CasaOS (based on Debian) as the pre-installed OS. Of course, you can reinstall the OS by yourself, Linux / Windows / OpenWrt / pfSense / Android / Libreelec are all compatible with it. CasaOS is an easy-to-use UI system, and you can use it as a “Windows PC” as soon as you connect the power and network cable. Although some functions are limited, the Mini-DisplayPort supports 4k 60Hz signal output, so you can browse the web or watch online videos without any problem.

As for other uses, here we have some examples for reference.

Add the lightweight NodeJS server – HomeBridge to run on your home network and emulates the iOS HomeKit API. Then the ZimaBoard can be used as a control hub that reinvents your smart home system with multiple-device connection.

Install the Plex Media Server on the ZimaBoard with the Windows OS or just under the NAS setup to enjoy all the media content and streaming. The Plex is one of the most powerful media streaming tools to store media on your ZimaBoard or other home computer. Then you can stream all the content to devices running a Plex app, turning any device into an unlimited ‘TV box’ or your private cloud media warehouse.

If you are a software engineer or genius knowing a lot about these geek devices, as I said above, you can make it into any device you want with a PCIe slot. I’m sure that the target users will take it to another level that both the brand and us never imagine before. Or you can check out ZimaBoard’s suggestion here, where multiple open-source ecosystems have been introduced. I’m sure you will be as excited about it as we are.

Summary

The ZimaBoard has several distinct advantages over the Raspberry Pi: the solid build with better heat dissipation and a better look thanks to a metal-heat-sink case; a wide range of interfaces and expandability; and a PCIe slot that can be used for high-speed data transfer. The pre-installed CasaOS can also help some novice users to get started. If you are willing to spend a little more money, I think the ZimaBoard can be worth the extra money you spend on it.

The post ZimaBoard Review: I’m Sure Geeks Will Love The Single-Board-Server! appeared first on Gizmochina.