Thank You for Building With Us
The ZimaCube 2 Pioneer Program results are now live. We’re grateful for every idea shared, and excited to announce the 10 selected pioneers.
ZimaCube 2 Pioneer Program: Results Are In
Selected Pioneers
What would you build with ZimaCube 2?
ZimaCube 2 is designed for people who want more than basic storage. Whether you're building a private cloud, a self-hosted server, a media hub, or an experimental homelab project, it gives you the power and flexibility to turn ideas into something real.
Zima has always grown with its community, and we want ZimaCube 2 to do the same - shaped by real builders, real workflows, and real needs.
Private Cloud Freedom
Keep your files and media in a space you control.
Built for Real Workloads
Run apps, containers, and creative workflows on one system.
Ready to Expand
Grow storage, speed, and capability as your needs evolve.
Open and Upgradeable
More flexibility, less lock-in.
Real Feedback from the Community
"The ZimaCube 2.0 is a masterclass in refinement. IceWhale has polished a design we already loved to a professional standard - optimized cabling, a redesigned backplane, and whisper-quiet fan control finally deliver the 'grown-up' personal server the community has been waiting for."
"It's exactly what my homelab needs and nothing it doesn't. It further elaborate on that, it's small, discrete, holds a decent amount of drives (especially for its size), and lets me use a GPU for transcoding. My previous homelab was a rackmount chassis that weighed a ton and was power hungry and the ZimaCube does what I need in a smaller footprint and consumes less power."
"The cooling upgrade looks like a huge step forward. It stays really quiet even under load, and the performance bump is definitely noticeable. I've been running local AI workloads on it, and honestly it handles them surprisingly well."
"I've run it on ubuntu the entire time - Its a fairly flexible bit of kit, Its open to experimentation and some degree of modification. Its nice that its not locked down."
"IceWhale have done something that most enterprise NAS vendors have never bothered with: they made the object feel worth owning before you have turned it on."
"The standard new CPU help much, the thunderbolt 4 ports are new on the base model (and the DDR5)."
Program Timeline
Here's what to expect as the ZimaCube 2 Pioneer Program takes shape.
Idea Submission
Mar 16 – Apr 16: Share your idea for how you'd build with ZimaCube 2.
Pioneer Selection
Pioneers announced on Apr 18: Our team reviews submissions and invites a small group of pioneers to join the program.
Units Ship
Starting Apr 25: Selected pioneers receive their ZimaCube 2 units.
Builds Begin
Pioneers start building, testing, and sharing their projects with the community.
Ready to start with your own ZimaCube 2?
If you already have a setup in mind, you can order ZimaCube 2 directly and get ready to build on your own terms.
- Get your ZimaCube 2 today
- Choose the edition that fits your workflow
- Ships in 72 hours
Stay Updated on ZimaCube 2
Get the latest updates about ZimaCube 2 and community projects.
Frequently Asked Questions
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Choose Standard for personal cloud, media libraries, backups, and lighter self-hosting or editing workflows. Choose Pro if you want more CPU headroom, 10GbE, and faster SSD expansion for heavier multitasking or more demanding active projects. Choose Creator Pack if you need the most powerful setup, with 64GB RAM, 1TB SSD, and dedicated GPU support for more advanced creative or AI workflows.
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Yes. ZimaCube 2 is built on standard hardware and follows a zero-lock-in approach. It comes with ZimaOS Plus preinstalled, while remaining compatible with a wide range of other operating systems and self-hosting setups. This openness is also a core part of the official product positioning.
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ZimaCube 2 uses a redesigned thermal system built for cooler and quieter operation. According to the recent launch materials, full-load CPU temperatures are reduced by nearly 30%, while system noise stays around 30 dB.
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For many everyday workflows, especially lighter or single-stream 4K work, Standard is generally a solid fit. If your setup involves heavier multitasking, faster shared storage needs, or more demanding editing workloads, Pro offers more headroom with a stronger processor, 10GbE, and faster SSD expansion.
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The 7th bay is designed for high-speed SSD expansion. On Standard, the shared bandwidth is around 800 MB/s, which is generally suitable for lighter active workflows and fast-access storage. On Pro and Creator Pack, the 7th bay reaches around 3200 MB/s, making it better suited for more demanding editing, scratch storage, and performance-focused workflows.
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Yes. A practical setup is to use faster SSD storage for active projects, while keeping larger-capacity drives for long-term storage and archive. This matches creative workflows well and makes ZimaCube 2 easier to use as both active workspace and long-term storage.
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ZimaCube 2 is compatible with most mainstream hard drive brands and capacities on the market. You can check the full compatibility list here: Compatibility List
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Inside the chassis, ZimaCube 2 supports low-profile GPUs for SFF single-slot or dual-slot installation, with TDP below 75W. For larger or higher-power graphics cards, we recommend using an external GPU dock.
