Kobol helios 64 is done!

On Wednesday 25 August, the company Kobol.io decided to put an end to the adventure of the open source helios 64 NAS (network attached storage) storage box.

After a very difficult year 2020 due to soaring prices for electronic components and ever longer delivery times. The 3 friends of the company had decided at the end of April to take a break. First announced at two months, it has grown to over 4 months.

In light of the above, we have decided to take a full hiatus for the next 2 months, recharge our battery away from Kobol, and come back with a refocused and pumped up strategy.

kobol.io

The adventure of the open source NAS (network attached storage) according to Kobol began in June 2017 with the arrival of helios 4.

The first Nas of the kobol company, the helios 4

The pre-launch campaign turned out to be auspicious, and the first dedicated NAS-based arm-processor nano computer was born. Not without difficulty, it runs under Armbian, who supported the project from the start by declining the software for the helios4 and 64. The first NAS delivered as a kit, the helios 4 was very affordable in the face of formidable competition.

Assembly and assembly Kobol helios 4 by Kobol.io

In order to better position itself in the market and following the ever-increasing sales of helios 4. The company decided in January 2020 to officially launch helios64.

NAS data storage module, helios64 by kobol

An always open-source and compatible NAS (debian, OMV, Nextcloud), made up of an uncompromising nano card, with more power, more networks…. But also supplied with a very neat case. For $ 295 we could claim an aluminum case, a UPS battery pack. In fact, the NAS integrated by default an inverter on battery and cables. All this provided with the same Armbian opensource software for helios64.

Programming, mounting NAS kobol helios 64

Thanks to a group sales system, Kobol could start mass production. But only 600 people were able to acquire helios 64 in September 2020. In January 2021 Kobol put 60 units up for sale on the site. Who left in a very short time. Since then the company has not sold anything and has weakened month by month.

We made a rookie mistake by not expanding the human resources last year. With the first delivery of Helios64 when it was only a 3-man team. We should have brought a few more people on board earlier. But we waited too long until we got a little exhausted.

Kobol.io

Finally, I sincerely hope that the company will rise from its ashes very soon. Or that a company takes over Kobol in order to develop this project which in my opinion is important. It deserves to carve out a place in the NAS market. Remember, this is the only full open source NAS project and at this price yet!