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About

Project Overview

Z1 is an open-source NAS operating system built on Debian 13. It uses entirely native systemd services (no Docker dependency) with a Go single-binary web management panel — stable, lightweight, and easy to maintain.

Our core philosophy: Protocols are just system capabilities; data is the core. Users should manage storage, sharing, users, permissions, and apps — not Samba, NFS, or RAID jargon.

Key Metrics

MetricValue
NAS Services9
Web Panel Modules11
Panel Memory< 3MB
Docker Dependency0 (core doesn't depend on Docker)
Deploy Steps10
Protocol Access6 (SMB/NFS/FTP/WebDAV/Web UI/S3)
Alert Channels4 (DingTalk/Telegram/Bark/Email)
Binary Size~11MB
LanguagesGo (backend) + Alpine.js (frontend)

Design Principles

  1. Debian First — Built on Debian 13, not tailored to specific hardware
  2. Native Linux First — All system capabilities managed natively, no container layer
  3. Go Single Binary — Single Go binary, embedded frontend, zero intranet deps
  4. systemd First — All services as systemd units
  5. Storage First — UI/API centered on "users managing data"
  6. Web First — The only official client is Web UI (with PWA)

Not recommended: Docker First / Protocol First / RAID First / hardware-specific First

Version History

VersionDateHighlights
v1.0.02026-07-08Security cleanup + username generalization
v1.2.02026-07-13Modular refactor + config management + backup/restore + rclone S3 + hardware definition
v1.3.02026-08-034-layer storage model + Design System v2.0 + rclone enhancements + firewall rewrite + Architecture v1.0

Architecture Document

Z1 has a formal architecture constitution documenting the review of 20 external recommendations:

  • Architecture v1.0 — 20 recommendations reviewed (✅ Adopted 14 / 🔶 Partial 2 / 📅 Scheduled 4 / ❌ Not adopted with reasons)

Contact

License

Z1 is released under the GNU AGPLv3 license. Code is fully open, community contributions welcome.

AGPLv3 means: even if you provide services over a network, you must open-source your modifications. We chose this to ensure all Z1 derivatives give back to the community.

Licensed under GNU AGPLv3