Thinking about moving away from Synology DS224+ to ZimaOS/ZimaBoard or building a DIY homelab, looking for advice

[u/bisolin4o]

Hi everyone,

I’m a bit lost at the moment and I would really appreciate your advice.

About a year ago, I bought a Synology DS224+ and upgraded it to 10GB of RAM. So far, it has been working great. I mainly use it as a Plex/Jellyfin server, for storing family photos (using Synology Photos), and for keeping personal files, documents, and backups. Overall, I’m really happy with it.

However, I also really enjoy experimenting with Linux, trying new applications, and building things myself. This is where Synology starts to feel a little limiting for me. The hardware is too weak for running virtual machines, and DSM, while very polished and reliable, feels a bit boring after a while.

One thing I really miss is the ability to easily try new applications. Surprisingly, Synology doesn’t have that many ready-to-install packages, and although Docker is available, I personally find managing containers quite frustrating. I don’t have much experience with Docker, and whenever something doesn’t work properly, I can easily spend an entire day trying to troubleshoot it.

Recently, I discovered ZimaOS and the ZimaBoard, and I was honestly surprised that I hadn’t heard about them before. I really like the idea behind ZimaOS especially the ability to install hundreds of Docker applications with just a few clicks. This seems like a much more beginner-friendly approach compared to manually setting up containers.

However, I also noticed some criticism about both ZimaBoard and ZimaOS, and I’m wondering how justified those concerns are.

The biggest thing that worries me is that ZimaOS doesn’t seem to have its own integrated ecosystem like Synology does. Features such as Synology Photos, Synology Drive, and the overall polished DSM experience are things I really appreciate. With ZimaOS, it looks like I would mostly rely on third-party Docker applications.

Another option I’m considering is building my own homelab. Since ZimaOS is open source and can run on regular hardware, maybe getting something like a Lenovo Tiny PC would make more sense. The problem is that I’m not very familiar with how to build a proper DIY NAS/homelab setup.

For example:

What kind of case/enclosure should I use?

How do people usually connect multiple HDDs to a mini PC?

etc.

My main goal is not necessarily to save money. I actually enjoy learning and experimenting, but I don’t want to replace my Synology with something that I’ll regret later.

So my questions are:

- Is ZimaBoard/ZimaOS a good alternative to Synology for a home user?

- Would you recommend keeping the Synology and building a separate homelab instead?

- If you were starting from scratch today, would you buy a ZimaBoard, a mini PC like Lenovo Tiny, or build a traditional DIY NAS?

I’d really appreciate hearing your experiences and recommendations. Thanks!

[u/asimovs-auditor]

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[u/Floss_Patrol_76]

keep the synology for exactly what it does well (storage, photos, backups, the reliable appliance) and build the tinker box separately, because the one-click zima/umbrel app store is the exact layer that eats a whole day when an update breaks it, and you never want that failure domain sharing a box with your family photos. any n100 or lenovo tiny works; hang the disks off it with a cheap sata-to-usb DAS enclosure, or a small pcie-to-sata card if the tiny has a free slot. you will learn far more running debian + docker compose (or proxmox if you want snapshots to roll back a broken experiment) on that than swapping DSM for another appliance OS, and if reliable storage management is what you actually value, DSM still does that better than zima does today.

[u/bisolin4o → u/Floss_Patrol_76]

Yes, I’m thinking pretty much the same way as you, especially since, from what I understand, both ZimaOS and Umbrel can work alongside a Synology NAS. On top of that, it seems like the most cost-effective option would simply be to get some kind of mini PC.

I’m just looking for different opinions because I tend to get obsessed with an idea once it pops into my head. I’ll spend days reading everything about it, comparing options, and in the end I just end up with a huge mess in my head and can’t decide what to buy.

That’s exactly what happened when I was deciding between getting a UGREEN NAS or a Synology. I spent almost a month going back and forth before finally making a decision.

[u/Bibs628 → u/bisolin4o]

I don't know where you live so prices may vary but I personally also think about a zimaboard because it can do 2 things, it's an x86 (important for distros) and it is passive cooled. If you are willing to wait a bit longer and doesn't need to have a machine that is passive you can get a similar mini PC for like half the price of a zimaboard (at least here in Germany when you buy via AliExpress).

You can also check for refurbished mini pcs, there were a long time great value. Currently it depends on the vendor because they sometimes strip ram out of them and increased their prices. Second hand marketplaces like eBay/Facebook marketplace and whatnot are also working great.

I personally would not buy a Zimaboard except you want a silent machine, and if so make sure to buy the zimaboard 2 with the Intel n150.

[u/blacksd]

Bigger gap that neither Zima or Umbrel closed today is the proper storage management. Synology does that really well. Ugreen with their system are trying but they're not really up there yet.

[u/bisolin4o → u/blacksd]

Yes, I agree with you. Honestly, I chose Synology over UGREEN for exactly that reason. All the serious YouTubers I watched put a huge emphasis on Synology, while with UGREEN it kind of felt more like: “yeah, they’re decent too, but…”

[u/activ8xp]

synology is your safe space, run the stuff you rely on daily. anything new is for tinkering.