Qnap launches a new storage server tailored for racks. There, the TS-855eU only takes up half the depth of a classic server.

Qnap launches the TS-855eU. The company calls the thing a NAS, but it’s actually a storage server. The TS-855eU is rack mountable and has a short depth 2U form factor. This allows the compact server to fit into racks where space is at a premium or ventilation is a challenge. The server is almost 30 centimeters deep.

Inner

The manageable box is equipped with an Intel Atom C5125. This is a modest eight-core processor clocked at 2.8 GHz. The chip was launched in mid-2022 and is based on Intel’s 10nm process. In addition, there is space for up to 64 GB DDR4 EEC RAM. Since the TS-855eU is a storage server, let’s not forget the capacity for HDDs: you can install up to eight 3.5″ SATA drives in the server. Hot swapping is supported.

Qnap provides two additional 2.5GbE ports and two PCIe Gen 3 x4 slots to optionally install 10GbE or 15GbE network cards. There’s also room for two M.2 NVMe SSDs that can provide cache storage.

Two options

Finally, we note that the TS-855eU comes in two flavors. The TS-855eU-8G is the classic model, equipped with a single 250-watt power supply. The TS-855eU-RP-8G has more headroom with two power supplies of 300 watts each, which gives the server redundancy.

The device runs on Qnap’s own QuTS hero operating system, just like Qnap’s other NAS solutions. The thing gets certification from VMware and Microsoft (Hyper-V). Qnap does not communicate an official price recommendation, but we find the basic model of the server for around 1,800 euros without VAT.