ZimaBoard 2 Sweeps 350TB: The True Ultimate Home Server

When building a home or studio‑grade NAS, many users assume that compact hardware inevitably means limited expansion potential. But Igor, a network engineer from Brazil, has proven otherwise with a massive storage system exceeding 350TB—demonstrating that the ZimaBoard 2 is far more expandable than one might think.

This case study will explain how he leveraged PCIe HBA and SAS expansion technologies, along with a flexible software stack, to transform a palm‑sized ZimaBoard 2 into what he calls “home‑scale enterprise storage.”

A Compromise Made by an Engineer: How to Quietly Bring Enterprise-Grade Storage into the Living Room?

Growing up in Brazil just before the internet boom, Igor developed a deep passion for tinkering with computers. Today, as a network engineer working for global hyperscale tech companies, he possesses profound expertise in server architecture and data management. At home, he is a quintessential geek—passionate about music, gaming, books, and engineering—even offering "free tech lectures" to his family. Technology has long been an integral part of his life.

However, Igor’s enthusiasm for hardware has always been tempered by practical challenges: he cannot bring bulky enterprise equipment home and must maintain a balance within the limited space of his household.

Therefore, he gradually shifted towards pursuing simpler, more efficient, and family‑friendly solutions. It was through the NAS Compares YouTube channel that he first encountered ZimaOS, and he was instantly captivated by its polished design, intuitive interaction, and feature‑rich yet lightweight system. After installing ZimaOS on his DIY NAS, his experience only deepened his belief: such an excellent system truly deserved hardware designed specifically for it. Thus, choosing a ZimaBoard—sleek in appearance and perfectly matched with ZimaOS—became a natural goal for him.

Fortunately, after joining the IceWhale community, he won a ZimaBoard 2 832 in an event. Yet almost immediately, he decided to upgrade to the high‑end ZimaBoard 2 1664.

A 350TB Primary Storage Management System

Igor's positioning of the ZimaBoard 2 is very clear: it serves as the "primary data warehouse", the ultimate destination for all data from his home and servers.

1. A unified management node for high-density storage pools.
2. The final backup endpoint (vault) for all home servers.
3. An integration and orchestration hub for mixed hard drives.

Hardware System Architecture: The Expansion Path from PCIe to 350TB

The core of achieving 350TB lies in the single PCIe 3.0 lane available on the ZimaBoard 2.

Igor connected it to:

1. IBM M1210 HBA (LSI 9300-4i OEM, SAS3004 chipset)
   • Flashed to IT Mode (passthrough mode), avoiding RAID controller logic overhead.
   • Provides a stable 6Gbps SAS link.
2. AEC-82885T SAS Expander (multi-path expander)

• • Expands to multiple HDD/SSD drive bays.
  • Supports mixed hard drive pools (different capacities and models).

This forms a high-density architecture capable of housing dozens of hard drives, with a total capacity exceeding 350TB.

Igor commented:

The advantage of this architecture lies in its ability to daisy-chain and manage multiple groups of hard drives using just a single host, eliminating the need for complex accessories such as Oculink adapter cables. This not only ensures a clear and stable data path but also achieves significantly lower power consumption and noise levels compared to traditional servers.

Virtualization and Software Stack: Why Choose DrivePool + Windows IoT?

At the software level, Igor made his choice based on a simple engineering philosophy: the optimal solution often comes not from adding more, but from removing what is unnecessary. As he puts it, "Not everyone needs RAID." Faced with hundreds of terabytes of data and numerous drives of varying capacities, building complex ZFS storage pools (vdevs) would consume the ZimaBoard 2's limited 16GB of memory—hardly an ideal path.

His solution is clear and efficient:

1. Virtualization Layer: He uses Proxmox VE as the foundation. Initially, he tried installing it on the onboard eMMC, but due to higher storage requirements, he ultimately deployed it on spare SATA SSDs, where it runs smoothly.
2. Core Application Layer: On Proxmox, he runs a lightweight and stable Windows IoT virtual machine, dedicated to hosting the storage management software.
3. Storage Solution: He chose StableBit DrivePool. Its advantages perfectly match Igor's mixed hard drive pool scenario:

• • Flexible Mixing: Seamlessly integrates hard drives of different capacities and models.
  • Simple Management: No need to deal with complex vdev configurations like in ZFS.
  • Reliable Protection: Provides data redundancy through real-time folder duplication.
  • Resource-Friendly: Far lower memory usage than ZFS, making it suitable for hardware-constrained environments.

In the end, this software stack—composed of Proxmox VE + Windows IoT VM + StableBit DrivePool—with its elastic and lightweight nature, perfectly supports the 350TB mixed storage pool.

In Igor's words: "Not everyone needs RAID… DrivePool for the win!"

Highlights of Experience: Expandability Changes Everything!

What Igor appreciates most about the ZimaBoard 2 is how its native PCIe expansion capability made building his high-density storage system simpler than ever:

In practical use, the storage link built with the HBA and Expander proved extremely stable, with no drive drops or disconnections throughout. The PCIe 3.0 bandwidth fully met the demands of the SAS HBA, while the system's overall power consumption remained far lower than that of a traditional x86 server. This achieved enterprise-grade storage density capable of 24/7 silent operation in a home environment. Ultimately, the ZimaBoard 2 perfectly fulfilled its role as a "high-density data vault" in his setup.

Conclusion: The Potential of ZimaBoard 2 Goes Far Beyond 350TB

When asked how he would recommend the ZimaBoard 2 to a friend, Igor offered a powerful summary:

His practical story proves that with sufficiently flexible and open hardware design, even a compact mini-PC can leverage its expandability to handle enterprise-level storage tasks. The ZimaBoard 2 empowers individual users to achieve "truly large-scale storage" within limited budgets, power constraints, and space.

If you are looking for a highly expandable NAS core, a home server, a low-power, high-capacity backup node, or a versatile and compact host platform, the potential of the ZimaBoard 2 may well exceed your expectations—we invite you to learn more. You might just be the next creator to push the limits of storage.