After dealing with a lot of Network Attached Storage devices over the years, one of the biggest lessons I’ve learned is that hardware isn’t the only thing to consider when picking up a backup server. Conversely, the operating system under the hood is as important as the NAS features, and given the sheer number of options out there, it’s easy to end up with an inconsistent setup where an overloaded ZFS-laden distro can be too much for a budget workstation to handle.
Actually, this is the problem I am facing 2 slot TerraMaster F2-425 last year. Although I was able to arm it with TrueNAS, I had to find too many workarounds to get it to work on the machine. So I tried using ZimaOS on the rig, and this lightweight DIY platform has become my favorite distro for no-nonsense NAS builds involving budget-friendly hardware.
ZimaOS’ low system requirements are a boon for budget NAS devices
You also don’t need to dedicate an entire disk to download files
I’m primarily part of the TrueNAS faction, to the point that my 3-2-1 backup pipeline consists exclusively of nodes equipped with this beast of a storage platform. However, I have to admit that it’s less than ideal for data collectors, especially newcomers with little experience in the NAS ecosystem and people who don’t want to invest extra money in a bulky data storage machine.
On budget systems, the 8GB memory requirement is quite a problem, and while the RAM apocalypse is still going on, it’s no longer possible to fit extra sticks to run TrueNAS. Likewise, while TrueNAS Community Edition is easy to navigate, it can be overwhelming for novice tinkerers. Unraid is more forgiving than TrueNAS, but its high license costs always make me hesitant to recommend the OS. OpenMediaVault is a solid alternative, but requires some manual configuration for best results.
ZimaOS is able to completely bypass these problems. Its low system requirements make it great for low-cost NAS units, while its intuitive UI eliminates the learning curve you have to deal with its competitors. In addition, ZimaOS allows me to use the boot disk to store user data, which is not the case with DIY distributions such as TrueNAS support without additional workarounds. This makes it ideal for 2-slot NAS units that don’t have additional SSD slots for the OS drive.
Compared to Unraid, ZimaOS’ license fees are also somewhat reasonable. Since ZimaOS’s free license is not trial-based like Unraid’s, I don’t have to worry about the OS locking up my NAS after a month if I don’t spend money on the license. Instead, the free license limits me to three users, four drivers, and ten active programs. When I first heard about ZimaOS, I was a little disappointed by the last two limitations, but seeing that its perpetual license costs $30, I don’t have much to complain about.
Moving on from the review, installing ZimaOS is a piece of cake, as all I had to do was plug the bootable USB drive I had burned with the .img file into the F2-425, select the boot drive, and wait for the installation process to complete before adding a new user account via the web UI. And on the subject of its interface…
The web interface of ZimaOS is quite simple even for beginners
But it still has all the important features you could want from a storage server
Despite my misgivings about Synology’s expensive hardware, I’ve grown fond of the ultra-simple DiskStation Manager distribution that powers its devices. Well, I dare say that ZimaOS is simpler to configure and easier to use than the good DSM. If you’ve ever used CasaOS to deploy Docker containers, you’ll feel right at home with its sibling’s interface, which packs important NAS-centric features alongside some neat container (and VM) deployment tools.
The Zima Storage wizard makes setting up new hard drives fairly simple and even includes custom RAID levels for those who want to make good use of spare HDDs. Since ZimaOS has a built-in file manager, it also acts as a simple local cloud – it doesn’t force me to configure specific network shares to exchange files between my client devices.
However, ZimaOS still supports SMB shares and probably has the easiest way to mount them of any NAS (or even home server) platform I’ve used. Instead of needing multiple config file edits or ACL management, the built-in file manager in ZimaOS shows the Share via Samba option when I right-click any directory, where I can also add a new user and change Time Machine support.
Heck, since ZimaOS ships with PeerDrop pre-installed, you don’t even need to use its file manager when quickly transferring files between the two systems. I really admire that it has fully functional desktop and mobile apps that can monitor the NAS and send backups to it. The distribution also has a 3-2-1 backup feature that can accommodate cloud platforms, USB drives and LAN shares, as well as remote devices connected to my home network. Tail scale.
The only features I’d like to see in ZimaOS are JBOD functionality labeled “coming soon” and proper GUI support for NFS and iSCSI shares. You see, NFS and iSCSI still need to be configured via typical Linux commands in the latest version of ZimaOS, which is still far from ZimaOS’s SMB support. It’s not a deal breaker by any means, but hopefully future releases will add simple menus to configure these alternative network sharing protocols.
It also supports the killer Docker containerization provisions
And its virtualization provisions are nothing to scoff at either
On the self-hosting front, ZimaOS takes many of the container deployment capabilities of CasaOS, one of my favorite platforms for running Docker environments. Similar to the app templates in TrueNAS and Unraid, ZimaOS has an App Store that lets me spin up dozens of useful FOSS tools. But since ZimaOS has default settings for each container, I can deploy almost every template to its App Store without going through the various settings.
However, ZimaOS can capture typical OCI images and convert them to Docker environments via a neat menu-based container deployment interface. Better yet, it also supports regular Docker Compose files and docker run syntax, making it convenient for more experienced workers.
ZimaOS even has virtualization provisions, so it is capable of creating fully functional virtual machines out of containers. Since I only had 4GB of RAM to work with on the F2-425, I only dabbled a bit with Fedora, Linux Mint, and Debian. However, allocating 2 GB of RAM and 2 (from 4 N100) CPU cores worked well on these lightweight Linux distros. Of course, the VM-hosting toolset isn’t as sophisticated as I’m used to (or even) on TrueNAS Without raid and DSM, but it’s good enough for beginners looking to dip their toes into virtual machines.
ZimaOS may not be for die-hard tinkerers, but it’s a great choice for a no-nonsense setup
Despite the user-friendly design of ZimaOS, I have to admit that I’ll still stick with TrueNAS for my data storage needs. After all, ZimaOS doesn’t have the same data protection features as its ZFS-powered rival, and TrueNAS also has better virtualization tools, advanced network shares (especially when it comes to hosting anything other than SMB), and stricter RAID provisions. Instead, ZimaOS is better for complete beginners and people who don’t want to spend hours getting used to a NAS setup.
