This December 2025 thread raised two different backup questions: a specific backup task that appeared to create directories without copying the expected files, and a broader product criticism about system recovery, scheduling, encryption, and moving to new hardware.
The historical failure is still useful, but several feature complaints are no longer current. By August 2026, ZimaOS's built-in Backup app supports scheduled tasks, multiple destinations including external drives and cloud storage, multiple concurrent tasks, and resume/fault-tolerance behavior.
The 2025 Backup Appeared to Run Without Copying the Dataset
The thread did not receive an IceWhale engineering diagnosis of that specific task. Community participants suggested small-file workloads, active databases, or USB performance, but those were hypotheses rather than a confirmed root cause.
Current ZimaOS Backup Has More Automation
The current Backup app supports scheduled backups, multiple tasks, external-drive and cloud destinations, and interrupted-transfer resume. That directly addresses several feature requests in the 2025 thread.
For a new deployment, build the plan around the current 3-2-1 backup workflow rather than assuming the December 2025 feature set is unchanged.
RAID Still Is Not a Backup
The original poster strongly emphasized that RAID cannot replace backup. Current ZimaOS guidance now says the same thing explicitly: RAID protects availability from a drive failure, while a real backup also protects against deletion, ransomware, theft, or loss of the entire device.
Moving to New Hardware Is Not the Same as Restoring the System Disk
The user wanted to move from an Odroid H3+ to a ZimaBoard 2. Community replies recommended a fresh ZimaOS install, reconnecting the data storage, and reinstalling app containers so persistent data could be reused.
That advice should not be treated as a complete image-level migration of every system setting. Current ZimaOS provides data migration for Docker images, app data, and user databases, while system configuration can still require separate setup after a reinstall.
A/B Recovery Is Not a Full Bare-Metal Backup
Current ZimaOS includes an A/B system design that can boot an alternate system slot when one slot fails. That improves recovery from a damaged update or system partition, but it is not the same thing as a user-managed full-disk image containing every setting and application state.
The distinction matters when evaluating the original 2025 request for complete system-disk backup and restore.
Always Test a Restore
Current ZimaOS guidance recommends restoring at least one file after the first backup. That is the practical answer to the source user's uncertainty: a task marked “running” is not enough evidence that the backup is usable.
ZimaOS Backup FAQ
Does current ZimaOS support scheduled backups?
Yes. The current Backup app supports scheduled tasks and multiple parallel backup jobs.
Can current ZimaOS back up to USB or cloud storage?
Current backup guidance lists local disks, other NAS devices, external drives, and cloud destinations.
Was the 2025 stalled backup fully diagnosed?
No. The screenshots established that transfer progress was abnormal, but no official engineering root cause was published in that thread.
Is RAID a backup?
No. Both the community discussion and current ZimaOS guidance explicitly separate RAID redundancy from backup.
