I got the ZimaBlade 7700 Without RAM, Single Board Server to run a simple home media server, nothing fancy. Once upon a time, I had a full-size server in a rack in a hall closet complete with Xeon CPU's and it was way too much for what I ended up using it for, a home media server, lol. My little brother is the same way, but he has amassed over 40TB of content and needs to expand his storage yet again. I guess overdoing things runs in our family. This time around, I just wanted to be able to locate all my music and video files in a central location and be able to access it from home or abroad. When I came across the ZimaBlade, I was immediately intrigued, if not for the "hackability" if not anything else. So, I started doing more research and realized that it would be perfect for my purposes. We have a whole home system that was pre-wired in our house (mainly ethernet, phone and coax for video) when it was built. Unfortunately, there was only a single ethernet line to each room and I will need at least two more per room. I was a little iffy at first due to it not coming with any RAM but the more I thought about it, the more I realized it is a good thing. Having just the open slot gives you the ability to run how much RAM you need for your purpose. It will take up to a 16GB DDR3L 1333 MT/s (PC3L-10600S) 204-Pin SODIMM Memory stick so you can go with either 8GB or 16GB (I went with 16GB because, well why not, lol). It is DDR3 and not the newer DDR4 which helps keep the cost down because you can get 8GB for $10-$15 and 16GB for $30-$40. It has plenty of ports and connections and one of the best is the PCIe 2.0 x4, which opens up a lot of possibilities. It also comes with 2x SATA 6.0 Gb/s Ports, 1x GbE LAN Ports, 2x USB 3.0, 1x Mini-DisplayPort 1.2 4K@60Hz and a USB-C PD 3.0 (12V/3A). I already have a ZimaBoard which has more functionality but it is also much larger and has a fixed amount of RAM. Luckily, or unluckily, depending how you look at it, I used to design and install high-end home theater systems, so running and dropping new lines is not too big of a deal, as long as I don't try to do it in the summer when it is 115 degrees outside (Arizona) and one million degrees in the attic, lol. I have been messing around with it using a makeshift, testing network just to become familiar with it. Once I get the temporary "network" more up and running, I will report back and update my review. In the meantime, I was surprised with how small it is (a good thing) and that it has some heft to it. It feels and looks solid as well. So far, everything is as I had hoped and soon, I should have my home media server up and running again. If you are looking for a small form factor, home media server, home NAS, etc., I would recommend the ZimaBlade 7700 Without RAM, Single Board Server!

The ZimaBlade 7700 is an interesting device. It's very small, smaller than I expected - you can get a feel for it by seeing how long the SO-DIMM RAM slot is. As the marketing states, the device is very "hackable" - you get an assortment of random onboard sockets/headers for attaching various things, as well as 2 external SATA ports and an external PCIe 2.0 x4 slot (along with USB ports of course). This makes it a really intriguing device, but unless you actually have a use for these unique features, you may be better off with something else. Attaching a SATA drive is awkward because you have to find a place to put it, and connecting a PCIe device is even worse since you've got a tall, thin board attached to the edge of the ZimaBlade (though in that case you would probably want to use a riser cable). I don't see myself having anything attached to the PCIe slot long-term, only for temporary testing or usage. I really wish it had an m.2 slot, since that would make adding storage way more convenient and compact compared to using a 2.5" SATA drive. This has a fairly old CPU, a dual- or quad-core Celeron from 2016 which is significantly slower than the current offerings. That's unfortunate, since it limits how much you can run on it simultaneously. Also keep in mind that there is a single DDR3L SO-DIMM slot, not two, so you're limited to the capacity of a single stick (and it's going to be single-channel). Another thing to be aware of is that it doesn't have Wifi onboard. With all that said, I was extremely impressed by how seamless the setup was. You plug it in, navigate to the web interface, and you're presented with a highly polished interface for adding services. This runs CasaOS, which is developed by the same company that makes the Zima devices, so it makes sense that it's well-integrated. One additional note, I was worried about how I would power my SATA drive, but it turns out the ZimaBlade came with a cable that connects to the power header as well as a SATA port, and has a standard 2.5" connector that provides both power and data for the attached drive. Although, I'm not sure how I would power a second drive since there's only a single power header...... I should also mention that this is powered by a USB-C port, though I had issues powering it from a USB A-to-C cable, so I suspect it needs USB PD that provides higher than 5 Volts. Not sure about that though. It claims to have a 6-Watt TDP on the CPU, so it should be able to run off something pretty wimpy, though maybe with peripherals that would go up quite a bit. Overall, I'm happy with it since it gives me basically a Swiss-army-knife server I can do whatever I want with. But at $125, I think you should think about if you really need this, or if you can make do with a newer (and more powerful) cheap mini PC, or something like a Raspberry Pi instead. As it is, this sits somewhere between the two, with all the benefits and drawbacks that entails.

ZimaBlade - X86 Single Board Server for Cyber Native (Without RAM) is a compact and well presented device. It measures about 3.25” x 4/25”. Short Summary: If you have outgrown the Raspberry Pi, this might be a device for you to consider. The parts that are missing from the setup (Wi-Fi, an HDMI port, etc.) can be rectified with a USB-C power hub. Also, if you have a lot of spare parts lying around the ZimaBlade can give them new life. This isn’t as easy for a beginner as a Mini PC might be, but it’s far more upgradable. Detailed Review: It has a very secure outer case that seems solid at first. However, the black plastic sheath slides right off and I was able to use a Phillips-head eyeglass screwdriver to remove the two top screws and then the clear plastic top. It did not come with a power cable, but I was able to test it using a USB-C docking station that I had available. I also used components that I had available from older systems around the house. I took a 4GB DIMM from a deceased laptop (Samsung Laptop memory 4GB 1Rx8PC3L) and unpackaged a Samsung SSD to plug into it for storage which it was able to recognize. (The ZimaBlade comes with a SIM card for storage out of the box.) There’s a separate adapter that comes with the device so I was able to plug in an SSD to the SATA 3.0 port. The operating system is CasaOS, which is a variant of Debian Linux. The default username and password is casaos/casaos. This wasn’t mentioned in the documentation but was easily found via a Web search. The instructions ask that you “plug this into your router” and go to the web site using another computer. This didn’t work with my setup but it was trivial to find the IP it was using with /usr/sbin/ifconfig after logging in, and getting the machine IP address that way. I could also SSH and SFTP into the ZimaBlade from other machines on my network. There is no WiFi capability in the machine. The easiest way to get this functionality is to use a USB-based WiFi adapter. I used a Ninetek USB adapter which I had plugged into a hub. It’s expected that you communicate with the machine remotely from another computer but it’s also helpful if you can use it as a client machine complete with mouse, monitor, and keyboard. The ZimaBlade has a DisplayPort adapter on it (not HDMI as the Raspberry Pi does) but also accepts a docking station via USB-C, so I was able to use a dual-monitor setup immediately after plugging it in. X Windows was not installed, but I was able to install it as well as the IceWM window manager – and it recognized my dual-monitor setup. It does take some extra work to set this up as opposed to a Raspberry PI, where you can do retro gaming out of the box with EmulationStation but it does provides you with an x86 framework with more horsepower and the ability to use a solid state drive, and the ability to load games that the ARM builds cannot. I would recommend having experience with Unix operating systems – if you’re familiar with Linux you should be able to figure this out. (I was able to get very far in one hour’s time.) Another plus is to have external storage and RAM chips lying around that you can use. (It only has one DIMM slot.) It’s possible that given its operating system, portability, and the fact that you can bring your own components that this could work as a “burner computer” in the same vein that one might use a “burner phone.” I would recommend running Tor Browser on it or some other VPN software. As I am not sure how vetted the out-of-the-box setup is, I would use discretion if personal privacy were a top requirement. Finally, I see that there is support for graphics cards, if the Intel 500 HD graphics prove insufficient. There is a PCI 2.0x4 slot in front of the device where a card could be plugged in. This is a very versatile device.

The ZimaBlade X-86 Single Board Server is a sleek and aesthetically pleasing device that offers powerful hardware and server-friendly expansion at a hobbyist-friendly price point. Its design is not only visually appealing but also provides substantial capabilities for various server applications. Initially, I tried using CasaOS but wasn't impressed, so I replaced it with UNRAID to build a NAS. The server's performance is frankly overkill for a NAS setup with redundant RAID 1 , leaving plenty of resources for other server duties. The kit includes only a single SATA connector, so you will need to buy a proprietary SATA-Y cable from the IceWhale website. It would have been more convenient if this cable were included in the kit. Alternatively, you can consider purchasing the NAS kit from IceWhale, which includes everything you will need for your project. This board is equipped with an N3450 processor and a PCIe 2.0 x4 slot, allowing for significant expandability. While the PCIe slot is a great addition for upgrades, it's at odds with the slot cover, so you'll need to remove the protective shield or use an extender cable. The inclusion of Gigabit Ethernet ensures reliable and fast network connectivity, although a 2.5Gbps interface would have been better for enhanced performance. The 4K video output capability makes it an excellent choice for a home media server, providing a seamless high-definition media experience. One drawback is the decision to use DDR3L RAM, which is an outgoing standard and makes it difficult to find a 16GB RAM stick at a reasonable price. Support for DDR4 or DDR5 would have been preferable. Despite this, the board's robust performance and expandability options allow for a highly customizable and powerful server environment. Another inconvenience is the lack of power or reset buttons; the only way to cycle the machine is to switch off the main power. Overall, this compact X86 board is a powerful and flexible tool for creating a personalized server environment. Its sleek design, robust hardware, and hobbyist-friendly price make it a standout choice in the single-board computer market. Whether you're a developer creating a home lab or a tech enthusiast setting up a high-definition media center, the ZimaBlade provides the features and performance needed to achieve your goals.

this is a 4.5 star review! but that's not allowed. lol this SBC is super cool. and i planned on using it for something else but am now using it like a Docker container local server. i've got lots of included apps on it, and some scripts running and more. it eats about the same power as a Raspberry pi does, but looks cool in its case, which is included. whats NOT included is RAM, and i thought i had this covered, but turned out it needs DDR3L RAM stick, which i could only get in 8GB. not a game killer, but newer tech with higher speeds would have been happily appreciated. (DDR4 or even DDR5?) that's the half star, i knew id need ram going in, but not DDR3L thats said, this comes packed with possibilities, tinker wise, storage wise, connections wise, and use wise, the possibilities are greater than i'm sure i can imagine!

I'm familiar with the SBC ecosystem. I have 7+ Raspberry Pi 4, 4CM, 400, and 5 modules (and a 3B and an original Pi hiding somewhere on a shelf). I also have a Pine A64+, a Galileo, a few FPGA boards, and a lot of Arduino and ESP32 stuff. When I saw that this ZimaBlade was available, I immediately had a use-case in mind for it as a router running Ubuntu with DPDK and VPP. I snagged it, ordered a stick of 16GB of RAM, and a 4 x 2.5Gb PCIe 2.0 x4 network interface. It took a few days for all that to arrive, so I just set the ZimaBlade on my desk while I waited. Today, the memory arrived, so I got to work assembling it all and powering it up. Initially, the case looked impenetrable. There are no visible screws, and prying at the seams did not yield immediate results. So I resorted to YouTube. There, I saw that the black bit pries away with a concerning click and I figured out how to do that on my own device. That reveals two screws in the plexiglass that can be removed to begin prying that piece out over the PCIe slot. Again, this is not elegant and feels a bit like you're breaking it the first time you try. But after a couple of times, you get a feel for it. Because I don't want to use CasaOS, I loaded up a USB stick with Ubuntu 24.04. Then I realized that there are a dearth of USB ports on this thing. One is dedicated to power (a fiasco I'll get to in a moment) and the other is a standard USB-A connector. I needed power, a keyboard, and my USB stick. So I pulled out a powered USB hub and plugged that in. I also tracked down a mini-DP to DP cable and plugged that in to my monitor. I also plugged in a network cable, connecting the ZimaBlade to my switch. Then I went to my Macbook power supply (which is USB-C) and figured that would be ample power to run this thing (it supplies 63W IIRC). I plugged the cable in. Nothing. I had reassembled the unit by this point, so I couldn't get a good view of everything, but it didn't look like any lights were on at all. Okay, it's not super unusual for SBCs to be picky about power (although it's always been down to watts for me in the past and 63W is enough to burn this thing to the ground). So I grabbed a standard RPI power adapter and tried that. Nothing. Then a bigger 27W RPI adapter I have from one of my RPI5s. Nothing. At this point, I do notice that there's a red light under the USB-C cable that's coming on. So power is getting in there, but nothing is coming out to the display. I have a USB multi-supply power brick that specifically says USB-PD, so I tried that too. Nothing. Google now. Okay, I learn that USB-PD is the right thing, but the ZimaBlade is peculiar in that it requires 12V at 3A. My Apple and RPI supplies do not supply 12V at all. The USB-PD device does. But it's limited to around 2A. Frustrated at this point, thinking I'm going to have to buy a special USB power supply for this thing, I remember the PSU I have on my workbench for my soldering iron (a Pinecil). It supplies USB-PD on one of the ports. I flipped it and checked the specifics, and low-and-behold it does 12V at more than 3A. So I unplug that and bring it over to my workstation. Plugging the ZimaBlade in there resulted in a much more satisfying experience as the system came up and booted right in to CasaOS. I'll have to figure out a permanent solution as I don't want to use this bench supply forever, but at least this lets me continue. From here, things became a lot more normal. I was able to use F11 to get to the UEFI selection menu and boot from the USB stick and get Ubuntu Server 24.04 loaded as I'd like. I then powered it all down and plugged in my PCIe NIC and rebooted. It came up and found that with no trouble. Note that I have never seen the amps exceed 0.5A (there's a display on my bench supply), so the 3A requirement seems unnecessarily high. It's probably a result of the PCIe bus and in some cases is probably warranted. But I'm grumpy about it. One last point; plugging a PCIe device into this feels precarious. There's no way to secure the card and no additional case add-on you can buy to do so (at least nothing that I can find outside of custom 3D printed things built by folks like you and me). I do woodworking - maybe I'll try building a custom solution myself. From here, I'll go about compiling and testing things that will probably stress it a bit. But my use is likely a little niche, so reviewing further is unnecessary. Overall, I do like this device and would cautiously recommend it if you're adventurous. But some of the design decisions leave me scratching my head. For most folks, I suspect a Raspberry Pi (especially with the new PCIe and SSD options) might be a better supported choice.

A very interesting SBC. CasaOS is itself very interesting and allows one-click install of many server applications common to home network servers (particularly data hoarders), including common server containers for home automation (notably ESPHome and Home Assistant), AI UIs and servers (ChatGPT UIs, StableDiffusion), file sharing and media servers (as well as Handbrake), torrent/similar servers, and servers for databases and proxies/VPNs (notably Anaconda3, MariaDB, MongoDB, Pi-hole, Threadfin, DDNS-go). You can additionally install whatever other server/software you please in a straightforward manner so long as there's a Docker image available (terminal access is also available in the CasaOS web GUI; un/pw is casaos/casaos by default). I've included a couple images to try helping you feel comfortable opening the device upon receiving it (I was a bit worried while fiddling with it); I didn't see this mentioned in the instructions -- to install the DDR3L RAM you purchase separately (I picked up an 8GB module for ~$15 shipped on Amazon), you need to lift the black plastic side cover up and out to unclip it and pull it away; then simply unscrew the screws in the transparent plastic housing. Note, too, that the 32GB onboard eMMC is meant for the OS, not for large-scale write operations. You should use either the SATA ports or PCI-e port to attach storage for files your servers will be regularly modifying. By default, CasaOS conveniently automounts USB storage devices. In case you may care about this, too: the N3450 was discontinued and appears to've been dumped off in a massive fire sale when it was, because quite a few SBCs you'd normally expect to see ARM or RISC-V on have been using N3450s, so you may wish to order two or look elsewhere if you're worried about replaceability. Edit: I regret not purchasing a miniDP cable with this. I eventually decided to install a different OS to the eMMC but struggled a lot with correctly configuring the bootloader/preseed for a headless linux install (not something I've done before). It's not a complaint about the design, but just something I wish I recognized beforehand because unless you can get console output logged somewhere you can see it, there's basically zero feedback when the distro doesn't install to the eMMC.

Looking for an affordable x86 personal home server? The X86 Single Board Server for Cyber Native (Without RAM) is a tiny little server that you can run easily in your home. The server is absolutely silent, runs cool, and simple to install. This is the perfect little server for my home requirements like running a VPN, ad remover, speed tester, etc. Great functionality and fun. Installation: The server comes without any memory, so I installed a 16gb DDR3L. Additionally, the server doesn’t come with a power supply, so I used an old laptop power supply. CasaOS comes pre-installed on the ZimaBlade. I plugged in an Ethernet cable, and then the power cable. (Tiny power light turns on so you know it’s on). On a laptop on the same network, I located the new IP on the network. Done. Usage: CasaOS has numerous pre-installed docker based apps, so it’s easy to test new applications on your home server without any monthly hosting fees. I’m currently using Cloudflare tunnel, Speed Test app, and a few other one click install apps. Recommended Pros: - Silent: The Zimablade is silent, so I just plug it into my switch and forget about it. - Cool: The server runs cooler than most of my other networking gear. - Responsive - One click install for app on CasaOS - Runs x86 software so it run almost any Linux desired - Virtualization support (Intel VT-d, VT-x), quad core - Storage: onboard 32gb for OS, and dual SATA ports for adding storage Cons: - No WI-FI/Bluetooth: Not a major issue for Ethernet attached server, but don’t try to attach the ZimaBlade or devices by Wi-Fi or Bluetooth

It's a lot easier to get a Raspberry Pi starter kit, and that comes with the necessary hardware including power supply and memory. Or if you value hackability, you can get those things for your own R. Pi., and there are a million blogs on how to do that. This board takes a different approach and gives you an Intel processor and a bunch of slots and plugs. What you do with it from there is up to you. Find your own power supply, and your own memory. But then there's the payoff: you get to run Linux on an Intel processor! There's an active Discord user community group.

I have played with lots of Single Board Servers from various vendors and the ZimaBlade is really cool. I had not yet been exposed to Casa OS yet and it seems very well done and has a active support community. There were a few drawbacks for me personally. It only came with a single SATA cable and not a twin. There is only one SODIMM slot. The power cable that is part of the SATA cable is small and hard to plug in as it is recessed inside the case. There is only one USB port so you will need a hub if you want to hook up multiple peripherals. Other than those drawbacks, it is a really new fun and cool toy for me to test out.