The community recommendation was to separate the boot problem from the data-protection problem: install ZimaOS on a small SSD or NVMe, create a RAID pool from the larger data drives, then decide which application data and user datasets belong on that pool.
The Thread Does Not Establish Mirrored ZimaOS Boot
No official reply in the thread documented a supported ZimaOS system-disk RAID1 installation. The useful recommendation was therefore architectural rather than a workaround: treat the system disk as replaceable infrastructure and keep important data elsewhere.
RAID Protects Data, Not the Operating System by Default
The Linux mdadm RAID reference explains that software RAID is built from member devices and their RAID metadata. ZimaOS can use RAID for storage pools, but that does not automatically mean the installer mirrors its own boot/system partition.
The current current ZimaOS storage setup documents RAID as a storage-creation workflow. The RAID recovery workflow is especially important because it explains how existing data arrays can retain RAID metadata even after an OS reinstall.
Apps and Large App Data Do Not Have to Live in the Same Place
One community reply recommended keeping applications on the fast system SSD while directing large datasets—such as Immich photos—to the RAID pool. Docker's Docker bind mount rules explains why this is possible: a container can access a host directory on another disk through an explicit mount.
The Immich storage migration shows the same pattern for a real ZimaOS application, while ZimaOS App Store requirements helps separate application runtime requirements from persistent storage requirements.
Choose a Layout Based on What You Need to Recover
- System disk: prioritize easy reinstall/replacement and enough space for ZimaOS plus container runtime.
- RAID pool: place user data and persistent application data that justify redundancy.
- Backups: keep independent copies because RAID does not protect against deletion, corruption, theft, or every multi-drive failure.
Bottom Line
Use RAID to protect the data that matters rather than assuming ZimaOS itself must boot from mirrored disks. A small system SSD plus a separate RAID data pool is the cleanest interpretation of the community guidance, and application datasets can be mapped to that RAID when their size or durability justifies it.
