The ZimaBoard is a small, fanless computer powered by a 6-watt Intel Apollo Lake processor with support for hard drives and SSDs. Apart from having an Intel CPU (vs an ARM processor) this computer also has 2x SATA III, 1x PCIe 2.0 and 2x Gigabit Ethernet ports to set it apart from a Raspberry Pi. So it is more readily usable with expanded storage capabilities and dual networking. It is also a lot cheaper than buying an Intel NUC with a single network port.
It can be used as a media server, software router, personal cloud, VPN and Firewall, smart home monitoring, file sharing and collaboration applications, embedded projects, or personal server applications.
Yes it will cost more than a Pi, and it is a Kickstarter project (with 20% off the final retail price), but I see DBTech has just received one to review on YouTube, so it does actually exist.
See https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/icewhaletech/zimaboard-single-board-server-for-creators
#technology #server #zimaboard #raspberrypi #hardware
I wish more of these SBCs would include a decent case. Who wants their NAS running off a bare board like this?
Why market it as a server solution but add no IPMI?
Also there’s plenty of existing small footpeint x86 Intel soltuons around. It would be much easier to source an HP thin client like a T740 with pcie expansion. Those dont have ipmi either but whatever. There are plenty of them around on eBay.
It seems like sometimes they make SBC solutions for problems that dont really exist. Also, what makes these boards more ‘hackable’ than anything else? Afaict they dont support coreboot or even have gpio.
I remember a year or so ago when I was getting Retropie running for my kids, and I was irritated by the Rpi’s limitations when emulating older dos/windows games. Kept thinking how neat it would be to drop an Intel coprocessor into one for that purpose (something like an Edison maybe). Of course, that’s not an option.
This might actually be a decent little game machine, and the price point is right.
Ah yeah I can see that being a good reason to go x86.
Just like a Raspberry Pi SBC, this is not competing head-on with the likes of higher end servers. I doubt enterprises will be using this SBC. So yes, to reach a really affordable price point, it will always be a compromise to some extent. But looking at it’s funding targets, it is clear to see there is quite a demand for it, in the niche it is intended to ‘serve’.
Yes that “hackable” was part of the heading of the original article which I read, and used that part of the heading - https://liliputing.com/2021/01/zimaboard-is-a-hackable-single-board-server-with-intel-apollo-lake-crowdfunding.html - as I see it, it has no GPIO interface. The Kickstarter project markets it for ‘creators’ and not actually for ‘hackers’. They’ve intended it more for embedding into other projects, but certainly a GPIO interface is really needed.
I’m sure a raspberry pi cm4 compares plenty well to this aged celeron. Plus is way more dynamic in that you can use it in any number of carriers that work best for you, or you can just design your own.
Also I never said it would be competing with enterprise gear. If you’re going to have it running as a server, there’s no doubt in my mind its going to hang on reboot likely sooner rather than later. So that means you’re gonna have to pull it out and hook it up to a display, etc. Not even a serial console.
Also ‘hackable’ is literally in the title of zimaboard.com. there’s plenty of small footprint x86 shit in the world that we dont need more.
It is more than just the CPU though - I basically had to abandon using my Pi 4 as a home server because connecting the drives to it were problematic. I went with an Intel NUC in the end (yes a Celeron). The barebones NUC cost a lot more actually. But I can say my Intel NUC with the Celeron runs for weeks on end without hanging at all, and it has a good many apps running on it.
The Zimaboard is still pretty good value for what you get I think. But I’m mentioning it here as one interesting option. I’m certainly not stating this is the one everyone should use. People must evaluate it as merely one of their available options. Every time I buy new hardware, I short-list a good 5 options for a more detailed analysis before buying.
With the ever spiralling cost of new CPU’s which must be matched with a motherboard, I think we’re going to have x86 and ARM around for a long time still, as they get many small scale jobs done at a really low price point.
Exactly, you used a nuc. There’s thousands of nucs of multiple generations around already and they are equal to if not better than this board.
Also the cm4 has pcie which makes it much easier to add many storage options.
I’d still do a proper evaluation before buying again next time. I would never just assume the NUC is better. It depends on what I need to do, and the cost as well. I had looked at a NUC last year for my daughter, and noted they had got very pricey.
Better is relative but ive seen nucs in thrift stores for ten bucks. Doubt you’ll ever even see a zimaboard.
I guess I hope it isn’t vaporware but that’s probably just because I want all these other really cool looking boards losing support immediately after they ship (if they even do ship). That’s why I like the compute module stuff, its much easier to design, fab, and fund than a whole SoC SBC.
Any word on whether this board will be able to install generic x86 ISOs like a PC? IMO, that’s the only real-world benefit that x86 still has over ARM.
Also kind of interesting that a Shanghai company to be using HK dollars for their crowdfunding.
I did see mention of Windows etc somewhere in the documentation. It is an Intel chip so should be fine, but have a read through as they do mention something but I did not read that in detail.
Found the original article that I first read, which mentioned this, so it was not on the link that I linked to: “Both models should be able to support a range of operating systems including server-specific options like pfSense, LibreELEC, or OpenWrt as well as desktop (or mobile) operating systems including Windows, various GNU/Linux distributions, or Android.” From https://liliputing.com/2021/01/zimaboard-is-a-hackable-single-board-server-with-intel-apollo-lake-crowdfunding.html.
You can also host your very own instance of ‘Odin’s Eye’ with it, whether you want to or not : )
