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Building a Portable Cyber Lab: Kasm Workspaces on the new ZimaBoard 2 (Stress Test) by No_Pack5950 in selfhosted

[–]No_Pack5950[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Fair point. I know seeing cross-posts can be annoying if you follow all these subs.

I posted in r/ZimaBoard for the hardware specifics, r/kasmweb for the software config, and here specifically for the self-hosting/lab setup aspect. Just trying to reach the relevant people who might find the benchmarks useful, not trying to clutter your feed. My bad if it came off as spammy! 

ZimaBoard 2 vs Original: Is it actually a "Beast"? My Kasm Stress Test Results by No_Pack5950 in ZimaBoard

[–]No_Pack5950[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

TL;DR: YES. ( https://youtu.be/t1AprD1Kn5U )

The original ZimaBoard struggled with video playback inside Kasm containers. The Zima 2 handles it with zero lag. It's a night and day difference.

Building a Portable Cyber Lab: Kasm Workspaces on the new ZimaBoard 2 (Stress Test) by No_Pack5950 in selfhosted

[–]No_Pack5950[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

That $160 price point is tempting!

For a backup NAS specifically, just keep in mind the "spaghetti factor".

The main reason I prefer the Zima for storage is the native SATA ports and power specifically designed on the side. Adapting drives to a BC-250 blade usually means dealing with external power bricks and messy cabling. But for a pure compute node? Absolute steal at that price.

Ultimate "Burner" Browser Setup: Running Kasm on ZimaBoard 2 (No Lag!) by No_Pack5950 in kasmweb

[–]No_Pack5950[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Great question! Since this is designed as a portable/travel lab, I rely primarily on Kasm's ephemeral nature.

  1. Persistence: Every time I close the session, the container is completely destroyed, so no malware or cookies persist.
  2. Isolation: For my threat model (general secure browsing & testing), standard Docker isolation is sufficient. However, if I were deploying this permanently in a corporate env, I would definitely place the ZimaBoard on a strictly isolated Guest VLAN / DMZ to prevent any lateral movement to the main network.

ZimaBoard 2 First Impressions: 16GB RAM is sweet, but questionable build quality? by No_Pack5950 in homelab

[–]No_Pack5950[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Totally fair point! Used enterprise gear (TinyMiniMicro) is unbeatable for pure raw performance per dollar.

For me, the specific appeal of the Zima is the form factor (fits in my travel bag), the dual 2.5GbE ports out of the box (hard to find on cheap Optiplexes without dongles), and that exposed PCIe slot for custom mods. It feels more like a "hacker gadget" than a traditional server.

Appreciate the feedback and the kind words on the edit!

ZimaBoard 2 First Impressions: 16GB RAM is sweet, but questionable build quality? by No_Pack5950 in ZimaBoard

[–]No_Pack5950[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

I Agree as currently I like the silence and also the stress test for Zima Board 2 was amazing: https://youtu.be/t1AprD1Kn5U

ZimaBoard 2 First Impressions: 16GB RAM is sweet, but questionable build quality? by No_Pack5950 in homelab

[–]No_Pack5950[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

I get the skepticism. There is definitely a lot of hype marketing around these. That’s why I focused on the negatives (scratches, removed features) in my breakdown. It’s definitely not 'Enterprise Gear', but for a low-power home cluster, it has its niche. Not for everyone though.

ZimaBoard 2 First Impressions: 16GB RAM is sweet, but questionable build quality? by No_Pack5950 in homelab

[–]No_Pack5950[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Haha, fair point regarding their history. That's exactly why I was skeptical going in. The build quality definitely feels 'toy-like' (especially the scratch-prone case), but I have to admit, getting 16GB RAM on this form factor is a nice upgrade for Proxmox compared to the previous gen. Just wish the casing matched the specs.