5 ms·

But the selling point of this board is IO not CPU: 2X SATA, ePCIe and 2X NIC. You can run proxmox on it with TrueNAS in RAID1 and pfsense/opnsense in a vm.

by aborsy 3y ago

ghostly_s 3y ago
Isn't putting TrueNas in a VM a big no-no?
- heatmiser 3y ago
  Pass the underlying disk or HBA to be fully owned by the TrueNAS VM and you will be a-okay.
oneplane 3y ago
It's not like that is a unique set of IO features, even for the SoC that is used it is somewhat sparse. Granted, bolting on more IO on such a low-end chip would have limited use, but SATA and PCIe have been rather common on small single board computers for over a decade. As for what software you can run: you can do that on any PC, that has nothing to do with this board.
windexh8er 3y ago
The processor is weak comparatively on the Zima. I think the minimum you want to be looking at is the current generation of Intel N-series. CWWK and Topton make nice options that have similar I/O, better networking. STH [0] has a good article reviewing. [0] https://www.servethehome.com/almost-a-decade-in-the-making-our-fanless-intel-i3-n305-2-5gbe-firewall-review/ https://www.servethehome.com/almost-a-decade-in-the-making-o...
- afavour 3y ago
  > But the selling point of this board is IO not CPU > the processor is weak comparatively on the Zima …
  - windexh8er 3y ago
    Wouldn't you rather have a decent CPU and better I/O at the same price point in a similar form factor? There are options. Some that are better, which is why I posted the link. Not everyone is OK with a couple generations old CPU.
    - rewmie 3y ago
      > Wouldn't you rather have a decent CPU and better I/O at the same price point in a similar form factor? Zima's site showcase benchmarks that position their boards at the same performance level of a Raspberry Pi 4. The recently announced Raspberry Pi 5 doubles that, improves all IO, and costs between half and a third of an equivalent Zimaboard. For the price of a Zimaboard, we can drop by Amazon and buy a MiniPC from the likes of Beelink or Minisforum.

But the selling point of this board is IO not CPU: 2X SATA, ePCIe and 2X NIC. You can run proxmox on it with TrueNAS in RAID1 and pfsense/opnsense in a vm.

by aborsy 3y ago

But the selling point of this board is IO not CPU: 2X SATA, ePCIe and 2X NIC. You can run proxmox on it with TrueNAS in RAID1 and pfsense/opnsense in a vm.

ghostly_s 3y ago

Isn't putting TrueNas in a VM a big no-no?

heatmiser 3y ago
Pass the underlying disk or HBA to be fully owned by the TrueNAS VM and you will be a-okay.

oneplane 3y ago

It's not like that is a unique set of IO features, even for the SoC that is used it is somewhat sparse. Granted, bolting on more IO on such a low-end chip would have limited use, but SATA and PCIe have been rather common on small single board computers for over a decade. As for what software you can run: you can do that on any PC, that has nothing to do with this board.

windexh8er 3y ago

The processor is weak comparatively on the Zima. I think the minimum you want to be looking at is the current generation of Intel N-series. CWWK and Topton make nice options that have similar I/O, better networking. STH [0] has a good article reviewing. [0] https://www.servethehome.com/almost-a-decade-in-the-making-our-fanless-intel-i3-n305-2-5gbe-firewall-review/ https://www.servethehome.com/almost-a-decade-in-the-making-o...

afavour 3y ago
> But the selling point of this board is IO not CPU > the processor is weak comparatively on the Zima …
- windexh8er 3y ago
  Wouldn't you rather have a decent CPU and better I/O at the same price point in a similar form factor? There are options. Some that are better, which is why I posted the link. Not everyone is OK with a couple generations old CPU.
  - rewmie 3y ago
    > Wouldn't you rather have a decent CPU and better I/O at the same price point in a similar form factor? Zima's site showcase benchmarks that position their boards at the same performance level of a Raspberry Pi 4. The recently announced Raspberry Pi 5 doubles that, improves all IO, and costs between half and a third of an equivalent Zimaboard. For the price of a Zimaboard, we can drop by Amazon and buy a MiniPC from the likes of Beelink or Minisforum.