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Zimaboard: The closest thing to my dream home server setup

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Re: Zimaboard: The closest thing to my dream home server setup

#161

Post by nrp »

mike_d wrote: post #158
nrp wrote: post #110

Earlier quoted context omitted.

This is incorrect. A USB-C power source can’t be in-spec if it doesn’t supply 5V by default. Other voltages or alt modes can be negotiated after that, but everything starts at 5V. This is defined in the base “ Universal Serial Bus Type-C Cable and Connector Specification”, not the optional USB-PD spec.

A common misconception, Wikipedia spells it out maybe clearer than I did: "A device with a Type-C connector does not necessarily implement any USB transfer protocol, USB Power Delivery, or any given Alternate Mode: the Type-C connector is common to several technologies." The document you mention is the specification for implementing USB 3.0 on a USB type C connector.

That’s not correct. We’re USB-IF members, and I’ve read through large chunks of USB-IF specs. The spec I am referencing is the one that defines the actual connector. You cannot build a power source that uses a USB-C connector and doesn’t support 5V and call it “USB Type-C”.

Re: Zimaboard: The closest thing to my dream home server setup

#162

Post by lproven »

aequitas wrote: post #99
justinclift wrote: post #6

> This variant of the board costs 200 USD ... Doesn't sound like a good deal when compared with 2nd hand microservers and small form factor PCs from Ebay. Things like these: ∙ https://www.ebay.com/itm/175917817224 ⇦ 2x NVMe slots ∙ https://www.ebay.com/itm/204477355543 ⇦ 4x 3.5" drives, ECC memory capable Note - I don't know those sellers.

I have the Gen8 microserver from your second link and what I really like about it (besides the 4 bays) is that is has ILO. Whenever there is a boot issue or I need to reinstall I don't have to drag it out of my server closet onto my desk, find a monitor and keyboard to hook it up to (now that I think about it, I don't even have a VGA monitor anymore) just do basic BIOS or GRUB stuff. It can all be handled via the web…

Huh. I have one and found the iLO such a total PITA to try to make the thing boot from its primary disk, a small SSD, that I ended up turning it totally off.

I guess now I need to find a way to turn it back on again...

Re: Zimaboard: The closest thing to my dream home server setup

#163

Post by justinclift »

lproven wrote: post #162
aequitas wrote: post #99

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I have the Gen8 microserver from your second link and what I really like about it (besides the 4 bays) is that is has ILO. Whenever there is a boot issue or I need to reinstall I don't have to drag it out of my server closet onto my desk, find a monitor and keyboard to hook it up to (now that I think about it, I don't even have a VGA monitor anymore) just do basic BIOS or GRUB stuff. It can all be handled via the web…

Huh. I have one and found the iLO such a total PITA to try to make the thing boot from its primary disk, a small SSD, that I ended up turning it totally off. I guess now I need to find a way to turn it back on again...

Yeah, it's useful once you've typed in an "iLO Advanced" (or similar name) license key to enable it. Findable online for free with any search engine. ;)

Re: Zimaboard: The closest thing to my dream home server setup

#164

Post by lproven »

justinclift wrote: post #163
lproven wrote: post #162

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Huh. I have one and found the iLO such a total PITA to try to make the thing boot from its primary disk, a small SSD, that I ended up turning it totally off. I guess now I need to find a way to turn it back on again...

Yeah, it's useful once you've typed in an "iLO Advanced" (or similar name) license key to enable it. Findable online for free with any search engine. ;)

I have never even thought of that...

It's a home NAS. It has one user, me, and only 1 network cable. The faffing around with a console cable, separate from the network cable, and the inability to just point to a boot disk like an ordinary PC, were hugely irritating and drove me to shouting anger several times.

It never occurred to me that I'd want the wretched thing, let alone try to unlock more of it.

All I want is to say BOOT OFF THIS DRIVE without defining volumes or single-member arrays or any of that enterprise BS.

Re: Zimaboard: The closest thing to my dream home server setup

#165

Post by oneplane »

mcholen wrote: post #150
oneplane wrote: post #116

Zima is average-good at branding and maybe styling and that's about it. The hardware is pretty much random ODM low power designs, but based on ancient 2016 era releases. Maybe it's just a company in Hong Kong trying to offload old inventory, maybe it's something else (i.e. Intel SIPP), but I wouldn't recommend it either way, unless power is free and you really want to minimally reduce e-waste (which is what this is).…

I doubt the ODMs are incentivized to wrap up some e-waste, rebrand it, and introduce it to the market under a new cap like ZimaBoard. Is this common practice?

This is very common. It's mostly due to the long-life programs where a large surplus or older SoCs are available. It's also why there is a large amount of C3000 based hardware suddenly.

Re: Zimaboard: The closest thing to my dream home server setup

#166

Post by justinclift »

lproven wrote: post #164
justinclift wrote: post #163

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Yeah, it's useful once you've typed in an "iLO Advanced" (or similar name) license key to enable it. Findable online for free with any search engine. ;)

I have never even thought of that... It's a home NAS. It has one user, me, and only 1 network cable. The faffing around with a console cable, separate from the network cable, and the inability to just point to a boot disk like an ordinary PC, were hugely irritating and drove me to shouting anger several times. It never occurred to me that I'd want the wretched thing, let alone try to unlock more of it. All I want is…

The main thing I use iLO for is the remote (full screen) console (inc keyboard/mouse) that it makes available over the network.

So, if I want to muck around with settings, change boot things (like in your case), etc, it's all doable from anywhere in my house via web browser.

Keeps things pretty straight forward. From memory, the default iLO password for each machine is randomly generated and printed on a tag attached... um... to the back (I think?).

But there's a physical switch you can set (inside somewhere) which disables the iLO login password. Less secure of course, but for a home environment that can be the right choice. :)

Re: Zimaboard: The closest thing to my dream home server setup

#167

Post by hendersoon »

aborsy wrote: post #133
hendersoon wrote: post #121

Earlier quoted context omitted.

It does have a PCI-e slot, which is unusual in competing products. But yeah, otherwise it's a matter of marketing particularly with the Zimaboard. Their new Zimablade is much more interesting; it's still old slow tech but they retained the PCI-e slot and dropped the price all the way down to $65 US.

The recently released RPI 5 offers PCIe connectivity I believe.

It does, but it uses an unusual cable. There are tons of SBCs with PCI-e M.2 slots too. The neat thing about the two Zimas is they have a standard PCI-e slot.

Re: Zimaboard: The closest thing to my dream home server setup

#168

Post by ghostly_s »

jimmcslim wrote: post #134
ghostly_s wrote: post #129

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Care to explain what an ODM is for this of us unfamiliar with the term? I'm not finding any particularly clarifying search results from the terms you used, AFAICT it's just a very broad term for manufacturers of industrial controller boards, embedded "Box PCs," etc. and doesn't refer to any specific product category? The "box PCs" would be most analogous to this product, but the problem with those is as a rule they d…

I think ODM in this context is Original Design Manufacturer. From Wikipedia... > An original design manufacturer is a company that designs and manufactures a product that is eventually rebranded by another firm for sale. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Original_design_manufacturer

Right- a broad category of companies. So what is an ODM device?

Re: Zimaboard: The closest thing to my dream home server setup

#169

Post by mike_d »

nrp wrote: post #161
mike_d wrote: post #158

Earlier quoted context omitted.

A common misconception, Wikipedia spells it out maybe clearer than I did: "A device with a Type-C connector does not necessarily implement any USB transfer protocol, USB Power Delivery, or any given Alternate Mode: the Type-C connector is common to several technologies." The document you mention is the specification for implementing USB 3.0 on a USB type C connector.

That’s not correct. We’re USB-IF members, and I’ve read through large chunks of USB-IF specs. The spec I am referencing is the one that defines the actual connector. You cannot build a power source that uses a USB-C connector and doesn’t support 5V and call it “USB Type-C”.

> We’re USB-IF members

I hope so that you can pressure the Promoter Group into not making the same mistakes with USB-D. :)

Have a look at https://web.archive.org/web/20161220102924/http://www.usb.or... slide 45. Note how all the power requirements also list an associated USB spec.

Looking back I will give you that 5v is required for vconn.

> You cannot build a power source that uses a USB-C connector and doesn’t support 5V and call it “USB Type-C”.

Yet this whole conversation thread shows that is not the case. By not joining the IF you can do as you please.

A great example of this is the Ubiquti Theta cable (https://tinyurl.com/5asf8wpp) where they implemented a completely proprietary cable (as far as I can tell) with "USB Type-C" on both ends.

Re: Zimaboard: The closest thing to my dream home server setup

#170

Post by sedawk »

squarefoot wrote: post #86
dominick-cc wrote: post #63

Earlier quoted context omitted.

If you want low power, check out the N100 systems that are out now. They use like 3W. I bought the N200 from this deal recently and it's a great little machine that can handle a lot of Plex transcodes https://slickdeals.net/f/16934029-msi-cubi-n-adl-dual-nic-in... It's interesting that these N100 systems can cost less than some of the Zima products. So for me, I don't see much of an upside of going with them.

Also, there are multiple SATA to m2 interfaces to get more ports on small PCs. https://www.ebay.com/itm/203655558873 (no relation with the seller) Although multiple SATA to USB3 cases should be a viable option too; I plan to build my next home server using one of them paired to a mini PC with lower power requirements than the one I use now.

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