Back up your systems, store all your photos, run AI models, host websites, or even have your own free streaming service, the $500 ZimaCube gives you your personal (and secure) cloud server without those pesky monthly subscription fees.

Looking almost like a beefy CPU that sits on your desk, ZimaCube is a NAS (network-attached storage) device that brings cloud computing to your tabletop. Rather than relying on Google, Amazon, Microsoft, or Apple to store all your data remotely (where your data can be accessed by companies, advertisers, governments, or worse… hackers), ZimaCube is your own personal cloud server that stores all your data in the secure confines of your home or office, but still allows you to access it anywhere on the go. Powered by a 10-core 12th-gen Intel processor, the ZimaCube offers up to 64 GB of RAM and has 6 whopping HDD bays for storing up to 120 TB of data. This basically gives you a powerful cloud server that can take backups of all your devices, host websites, run your own personal streaming service using locally downloaded files (goodbye Netflix), or better still, run your own personal AI model or GPT by hooking up an external GPU. In a world plagued by governments snooping on private citizens, and by companies looking to make a quick buck by either charging you monthly fees to store your data or by selling them to advertisers, ZimaCube lets you take back ownership of your private information, whether it’s photos on your smartphone or all the work files on your laptop/desktop.

Designer: IceWhale Technology

Click Here to Buy Now: $499 $699 ($200 off). Hurry, only 717/1000 left! Raised over $1 million.

At its core, the ZimaCube offers a massive storage capacity of up to 164 terabytes, with a unique 6+1 bay design accommodating a mix of six hard disk drives (HDDs) and four solid-state drives (SSDs). This blend ensures ample storage space for large files and speedy access to frequently used data, striking a balance between vast storage and fast performance. This makes it ideal for storing everything from important documents to extensive collections of digital assets like photos and videos, all securely in one place and accessible from anywhere.

ZimaCube provides a centralized hub of up to 164 TB for storing and cataloging all your project files, media assets, and documents. Its unique 6+1 bay design provides extra flexibility by offering HDD, SSHD, and SSD storage options.

Aside from storing backups of your selfies and videos (after all, the ZimaCube is capable of so much more), you additionally have the option of storing work files and data dumps, and directly editing them over the cloud instead of needing to download them to your device. Powering the ZimaCube is a 12th Gen Intel Core i5 processor, ensuring efficient data management, particularly for tasks requiring substantial computing power like video editing. This is complemented by cutting-edge connectivity options, including Thunderbolt 4 and 2.5GbE networking ports, facilitating rapid data transfer and smooth workflow management. For professionals relying on demanding applications, the ZimaCube’s extensive storage capacity, robust processor, and advanced connectivity make it perfect for content creators and multimedia experts who require a reliable storage solution that can keep pace with their workload.

Files stored on the ZimaCube can be accessed through a multitude of ways, enabling storage, retrieval, sharing, and even collaboration. The ZimaOS provides a clean, intuitive way to manage your data, but it goes above and beyond by also being a one-stop management dashboard for your data stored on DropBox, Google Drive, etc. All your files find a home within the ZimaOS dashboard, so you don’t have to hunt across multiple accounts and devices to find files. The ‘ZSync’ feature synchronizes file versions across all devices (so any edits made to a file update everywhere), and automatic backups take the hassle out of remembering to manually backup all your data. Want to share data with team members, clients, and stakeholders? The ZimaCube’s PeerDrop feature allows you to share files with anyone through an encrypted gateway, bypassing the public cloud entirely. It also supports various tools like Nextcloud and Seafile, allowing you to share and collaborate on files with ease. You can create shared folders, set permissions, and even generate public links. This is a boon for remotely located teams and groups who need to work together on projects, regardless of their geographical locations.

Harness the desktop-class performance of NVIDIA® Quadro® and AMD Radeon Pro eGPUs for professional graphics output. With Thunderbolt 4, you can daisy chain up to six external RAID arrays together and get a jaw-dropping 1PB to your ZimaCube.

Going beyond just traditional data storage, you can even run your own private AI models directly on the ZimaCube. PCIe Gen 4 ports and Thunderbolt 4 connectivity allow you to hook up powerful external GPUs to host and run your own AI models like Stable Diffusion without splurging big bucks on a GPU farm or buying GPU credits online. Moreover, the folks behind the ZimaCube also boast the ability to privately run a GPT on your own data, allowing you to effectively ‘chat’ with your own documents to retrieve information, find files, and get an overview on lengthy run-downs without as much as opening them. The AI runs entirely locally and privately, with no data ever leaving your device.

All those technical capabilities sit in the ZimaCube’s black-box-esque design that’s crafted with a predominantly metal construction, providing robustness and efficient heat dissipation. It features a magnetic attachment system for the front-mounted panel and a durable design with multiple ventilation panels, crucial for maintaining optimal temperature​. On the inside, modules plug in with LEGO-like configurability. The ZimaCube lets you customize your own server, adding modules such as a WiFi module, additional interfaces, high-speed drives, and even RAID arrays. It’s not just the hardware that’s customizable – with software options like ZimaOS, TrueNAS, and unRAID, and a community-driven range of apps and plugins, you’ve got digital flexibility too.

The ZimaCube presents two distinct variants tailored to different user needs: the Standard and Pro models. The Standard version is powered by the Intel Alder Lake-N100 processor, a competent choice for general storage and computing needs. It’s like a reliable sedan, efficient for daily tasks. On the other hand, the Pro model shifts gears with the robust 12th Gen i5-1235U core processor, akin to a sports car in the processor world, offering enhanced performance and handling more demanding tasks with ease. Both models champion significant storage capacity and connectivity options, but the Pro model stands out with its higher RAM support and processing power, making it suitable for power users who need that extra bit of computational muscle. The ZimaCube Standard starts at an early-bird price of $499 (VAT-free), while the Pro is similarly discounted with a $900 price tag (the HDDs need to be purchased separately). It ships globally with a 19V 220W power adapter, universal plugs to fit a variety of international power sockets, and a 1-year warranty.

Click Here to Buy Now: $499 $699 ($200 off). Hurry, only 717/1000 left! Raised over $1 million.

The post This $500 device lets you easily build your own Cloud Server instead of paying Google, Microsoft, or Amazon first appeared on Yanko Design.

Building on the same ethos as Bitcoin and Web3 is, Box wants to do to storage what Cryptocurrency did to banking – break the chain of command. Instead of the status quo, where Apple, Amazon, Google, and Microsoft make you pay subscription fees to store your data on their servers, Box has a better alternative. Buy and run your own server and store data on it… but it goes one step ahead. Any extra storage you don’t use gets leased out to someone else, and you earn revenue for it.

Designer: Functionland Design

Click Here to Buy Now: $299 $399 (25% off). Hurry, less than 24 hours left! Raised over $400,000.

Data stored on the Box is a lot like how information is encrypted on the blockchain. Your Box works in tandem with other Boxes scattered around the globe. Your data is encrypted and scattered across these Boxes in a way that only you can access them, making it practically impossible to hack. Simultaneously, your Box participates in this ‘boxchain’ of sorts, hosting multiple fragments of other people’s data and paying you for it.

Your photos, files and data are fully encrypted. Only you can access your data. Only you can share it.

What Box proposes is pretty unique, at least on paper. Instead of allowing big companies to store your data (and create profiles that they can sell to advertisers or governments), Box decentralizes it all, allowing people to store each other’s data. As simple as that was to explain, Box’s hardware reinforces that simplicity with an intuitive design that’s literally shaped like a box. Looking almost like a Rubik’s Cube from its top view, Box comes with a platform that lets you plug as many as 9 towers into it. A base-level Box offers one terabyte of cloud storage, and to expand it, all you do is either add towers to the platform or plug framework expansion cards into the towers to upgrade their capacity.

Box is stationary hardware that sits on your desk, syncs with your devices and provides all the advantages you’ve come to expect from cloud services.

Once assembled and switched on, your Box connects with other Boxes to form the secure, people-owned FULA network. Fula (short for Functionland) is a Blockchain-attached Storage Network developed by the folks at Box. It helps securely encrypt and scramble your data in a way that isn’t accessible to anyone else, and any storage you’re not using gets rented out to other people on the FULA network, allowing you to earn $FULA tokens in the process. It’s worth noting that your Box isn’t mining coins, it’s just issuing rewards based on its signature Proof-of-Resource (PoR) consensus. $FULA tokens have an intrinsic value that rises and falls over time too, just like any currency, and can be sold on compatible exchanges.

Fotos is a polished, forever-free app that provides swift, seamless, easy access to and sharing of your photos from anywhere, across any device.

All that jargon aside, at its core, Box really acts as your own personal cloud storage in a way that’s cheaper and more secure than the ones currently being offered by giants like Amazon, Apple, Microsoft, and Google. For starters, Box doesn’t levy a subscription price – all you really pay once for is the hardware and Box makes their money off the FULA network while simultaneously allowing you to cash in too by leasing your extra storage to other people. On launch, Box will come with its own photo storage and backup app called Fotos (which they say is free to use forever), and the company is encouraging developers and designers to make an ecosystem of apps for its users, promising rewards for them too.

When you start using Box, you start saving as much as $24+ per month, and earning $FULA tokens too.

Box’s hardware and software are both open-source, to that end… and for people worrying about the gas bills and electricity costs for blockchain-based data storage, Box’s makers say that the device is built on an energy-efficient framework, with electricity bills coming to a projected $15 per year.

Box is powered by Raspberry Pi 4, which consists of a high-performance 64-bit quad-core processor. It offers up to 8 GB of RAM, dual-band 2.4/5.0 GHz wireless LAN, Bluetooth 5.0, Gigabit Ethernet, and USB 3.0. Box has multiple, expandable USB3 ports that serve to extend Box’s functions with more towers, or to enable it to act as a docking station.

So, is it worth investing in something like the Box? Well, it really makes sense for people who understand the technology to be early adopters first. Like with every nascent technology, this will help work out any potential kinks and allow other consumers to eventually come on board. As its community grows, Box’s network will become more reliable and more secure. Financially though, it’s really a no-brainer. On the one hand, you’ve got companies like Amazon, Google, and Apple charging an average of $200 USD per household per year for cloud storage (while simultaneously benefitting from your data).

Box, on the other hand, is just $299 for its Lite version, which is a single tower that provides a terabyte of storage. For that price, you own the cloud drive in perpetuity, and can expand as and when you choose. Moreover, you even stand to make money from your Box by renting out the storage to other people. Why pay for cloud storage when your cloud storage could pay you, eh?

Click Here to Buy Now: $299 $399 (25% off). Hurry, less than 24 hours left! Raised over $400,000.

The post Meet ‘Box’, a decentralized cloud server that lets you own your data instead of Amazon or Google first appeared on Yanko Design.