Mini Plex Server Running On A ZimaBoard With A 480GB SSD

[@KangoV]

Awesome! You could have slight higher side brackets and use a small PCIe x4 riser cable to mount the card underneath.

[@Tedpikel]

10:00 LOL. I watched this video in the hopes it would explain what I was doing wrong but I see you had a similar issue. I haven't tried the desktop tool yet though.

[@2099adrake]

Awesome job with both the design of physical device and the software setup. Just a wonderful device. Currently running on Pi4, making me want a Zima board just to do this... for fun... and make it awesome. Even the design of the physical set is just amazing. Keep up the good work.

[@MichaelKlements]

Thanks for the great feedback!

[@unperrier]

The things that I am interested in have been left out: - can it do transcoding, for example to stream to a Google Chromcast device. And if it can, which codecs (x265?) and what resolutions can be converted without degradation (like stutter and pixelisation) and how many parallel streams it can support. - I was expecting power consumption measurements (at the wall socket). Maybe a follow-up video? Thanks

[@Maxtraxv3]

yeah i had the same question, wanna set one of for my parents.

[@unperrier]

@@Maxtraxv3 hardware transcoding requires a plex pass, but if this board's CPU could transcode HEVC 10 bits in software, that'd be great news. Especially if it consumes much less than an Intel machine.

[@MichaelKlements]

I'll do some experimenting with this and look at putting together a follow-up video. On the power side, the TDP is stated as 6W, so I'd expect that it uses around 8-12W depending on what drives/peripherals are connected to it.

[@unperrier]

@@MichaelKlements excellent, looking forward to it. Thank you Michael.

[@Diviance]

The Celeron N3350 does support QuickSync and does support HEVC. You would need to passthrough the GPU into the docker container by adding something like --device="/dev/dri" or whatever the location is for the particular linux distro into the extra parameters or into the run command, however their GUI docker stuff works. As for software transcoding... it might work fine for low resolution stuff for HEVC 10 bits.. but even though, I kinda doubt it. You would be better off getting a device that can direct play HEVC 10bit instead of relying on such a low-end CPU to do software transcoding.

[@yahyanasser3193]

Thanks a lot can you please share the 3d draw for the adapter

[@DailyMyChildhood]

This is actually really helpful video. Thanks for this video .

[@darkangelo]

Can you use the to run plex server but have your media on nas?

[@blackburd]

I wonder if this would be powerful enough to run truenas scale AND a plex server with 5 Sata drives in a raid 5?

[@emilie1977]

thank you! Can you make a backup storage for windows software on Zimaboard?

[@MichaelKlements]

You can create a network attached storage drive and use this automatically back up data from a Windows PC.

[@r0tb3rt]

How is video encoding especially 4k?

[@nickalderman5943]

any chance you'd be willing to sell the stand with blank acrylic plates? I too hate having loose drives and cables.

[@MichaelKlements]

Yes sure, send me a message on my Etsy store and I'll arrange to make up a set - www.etsy.com/au/shop/TheDIYLifeCo

[@wch32062]

I don't know if I can use the optical port network card?

[@AngelBermudez-fl4oe]

Where did you get the Black plastic drive holder?

[@MichaelKlements]

They’re 3D printed

[@leonardobetti8811]

awesome thanks

[@YachtsonStClaire]

I just bought one of these the same model just different color and it came with no adapter splitter or the SSD. Seems like the top of the line board should all come with the same shit

[@Martin_Siegel]

I'm a bit uncomfortable using the webUI over a not encrypted connection. What can I do about it? Excellent review!

[@MichaelKlements]

I haven't really looked at this in much detail so this might not be correct but as far as I know the connection is encrypted since CasaOS is based on Debian and Docker. You can add your SSL certificate to the docker image to get the https connection.

[@Martin_Siegel]

@@MichaelKlements Thanks for the speedy reply! I will look into it. Thanks again.

[@julianfbeck]

Nice video (y) what laser engraver is this?

[@MichaelKlements]

It's a K40 laser cutter, I've linked a similar one in the video description.

[@BradClarke]

Interesting device, although I find the solution they chose for the m.2 add-on really ruins the aesthetic of the device. Would've been better to have it under the main device like you did with the SSD drives.

[@sc0or]

Sure. There are many racks on a market in a 2.5" drive format which allows to have a raid array of two nvmes in a 2.5 form factor. A read/write speed is limited by USB3.0, but I'm not sure the SBC provides PCIe higher than PCI 2.0

[@killerful]

I think using an extension cable would easily solve this. That way you can easily hide the M.2 board underneath.

[@harrycruiser3550]

where can i download the drive holder

[@MichaelKlements]

From my blog, linked in the description.

[@breakthechains8362]

Am I missing something? How is this any different from my plex app?

[@MichaelKlements]

This is the networked storage device that provides the content to your Plex app to play back.

[@mariusgabrielciocarlan2447]

Hi, very good SBC. Only LattePanda 3 Delta 864 with 8GB ram can keep up, but the price will give the first place to zimaboard :D

[@MichaelKlements]

I also like the PCIe expansion slot and SATA ports - not many boards have these interfaces

[@mariusgabrielciocarlan2447]

@@MichaelKlements but the ZimaBoard has PCI-E 2.0 instead of LattePanda that has PCIe 3.0 witch is superior. The processor for LattePanda delta seems to be net superior in specs. Only the price and what accessories you get for the money you spend on one SBC will give the first place for ZimaBoard. This is my opinion. For the fun is to try to connect some dedicated video graphics card and see how the board manage some tasks.

[@MichaelKlements]

I mean the physical PCIe slot - not many boards are able to take a PCIe card without another adaptor. No doubt the LattePanda has better specs and newer technology.

[@taranagnew436]

Where can you get the set?

[@taranagnew436]

what's the screwdriver your using?

[@MichaelKlements]

This was a limited edition kit, your can buy a Zimaboard on Amazon or from Seeed Studios. There are links in the video description for these and for the screwdriver.

[@arubial1229]

This is a great idea, but not having a built-in M.2 slot is a major fail IMO. Having to use a PCI-E board for NVME is really stupid and makes it look like crap.

[@JoshuaPayneuk]

Can anyone offer me advice. I would like to cluster a few Zima boards, some external SSD, and a gtx 1080 graphic card. I'm trying to get into home lab DIY with a preference for Ai model training. I would like to start small and create something with a small footprint and low power usage. Would the Zima board be a suitable option?

[@MichaelKlements]

I think for what you're wanting to do you're probably better off using Jetson Nanos

[@JoshuaPayneuk]

@@MichaelKlements thank you for the advice buddy. I did consider Jetson's, however, and the Jetson mate. I may build a mini itx PC instead, so I can also use it as the service/NAS. Thank you.

[@MichaelKlements]

Yeah if you want to go with a GTX graphics card then your best bet is probably mini ITX PC hardware. It's going to be more cost effective and you can re-sell components as you grow out of them.

[@UdoHartmann]

Thanks for the video. Unfortunately they are out of stock. :(

[@jayempii1590]

looks cool :)

[@DocLois2010]

I want one...

[@yeshuayeeyee7430]

looks like a piano

[@texasermd1]

Might be nice but all versions are out of stock. Shocking!

[@MichaelKlements]

They're still fulfilling orders to their backers on Kickstarter, they'll only then be released for sale to the public.

[@gowinfanless]

Hi John,I don't think the Ziama is only choice.

[@TitusandTesla]

I love it. I’m going to get one because of you. Can you do a video of your adding a torrent for it?

[@parasbhanot]

It is better to buy intel nuc instead if zima board as it is way to costly

[@8qBIT]

Jellyfin is superior to plex change my mind.

[@MichaelKlements]

I haven't really ever given Jellyfin a fair try, I must look into it.

[@PeterRichardsandYoureNot]

only problem is that the zimaboards reliance on casaos is pure garbage. the OS is in its infancy and is not ready for primetime much less anything as passively mission critical as a media server. the OS constantly fails at updates. and should you attempt to run one, and it does fail and gives no indication of failure, you wont know until you reboot. then you find out the OS has corrupted the storage and FSCK exits with errors and wont boot the OS. its pure junk. have tried it many times and had to re-terra the entire install multiple times. the dashboard is pretty. the containers are easy.. but the underlying os is crappola.

[@MichaelKlements]

Thanks for sharing your feeback Peter. Have you tried discussing some of the issues you're having on their Discord server? They're quite active on there, including some of their developers.

[@estusflask982]

this product screams overpriced. also it's just a computer, you can use any computer as a "server".

[@MichaelKlements]

I don' think $120 is overpriced for a base unit, there aren't many computer alternatives in the $100-200 price range. People use single board computers like this for their power efficiency and size, both of which are lost when using a standard computer.

[@ziomalisty]

@@MichaelKlements Right now it's almost twice the price of Raspberry Pi 4 with only a little bit more of CPU power.

[@Diviance]

@@ziomalisty It is also an x86 cpu rather than ARM, which opens up more capabilities... so there is that.

[@MichaelKlements]

@ziomalisty Raspberry Pi's are pretty hard to come by and have been for over a year now. The silicon and chip shortage has pushed up manufacturing costs significantly, so when Pi's are again available they'll likely be more expensive than their "current" list prices. These are also quite different products, this has PCIe, SATA ports and eMMC storage, it's based on x86 architecture and it also comes with a power supply. Don't get me wrong, I love and use Raspberry Pi's all the time, but other than also being a single board computer, they're quite different products.

[@ziomalisty]

@@MichaelKlements Interesting points!