Have you ever wondered what it would be like to build your own server that can run game worlds, stream media, numerous virtual machines, and more? Now’s your chance with the new QNAP TS-x64U, the latest from the NAS brand that has some serious firepower inside the 1U rackmount chassis.
This monstrous rackmount is powered by an Intel Celeron N5105 or N5095 processor. Both are quad-core chips that can burst to speeds of up to 2.9GHz. There’s 4GB of DDR4 RAM, which can be upgraded to 16GB in total. These specs alone make it ideal for running Plex Media Server and would put it up against the best NAS I recommend.
Then there’s the 4K output through the available HDMI port. This is incredibly useful for Plex servers as they can be hooked up to recipient hardware like a TV directly and negates the need for transcoding. Transfer all your favourite 4K content to the QNAP TS-x64U as this thing will be more than capable of playing it.
Other handy features of this NAS include a PCIe (Gen 3) slot for installing M.2 NVMe SSD or 10Gb LAN networking expansion cards. There are two 2.5Gb LAN ports on the rear, as well as two USB 3.2 Gen 2 and two USB 2.0 ports for connecting all your accessories (and for making quick backups).
The QNAP TS-x64U can be purchased with four or 12 drive bays. If the 12 bays weren’t enough, QNAP TL and TR expansion units can be connected to this NAS. Rackmount servers are serious machines and are designed for use inside server racks. You could purchase one and set up your own server room or leave it to the enterprise professionals.
The key configurations for the QNAP TS-x64U are as follows:
- TS-464U-4G: 1U, 4x 3.5-inch SATA 6Gb/s drive bays, 4GB DDR4 memory
- TS-464U-RP-4G: 1U, 4x 3.5-inch SATA 6Gb/s drive bays, 4GB DDR4 memory, redundant power supplies
- TS-1264U-RP-4G: 2U, 12x 3.5-inch SATA 6Gb/s drive bays, 4GB DDR4 memory, redundant power supplies
QNAP didn’t confirm availability or pricing for the TS-x64U but I would make a healthy bet that it won’t take long to hit the market and it won’t be cheap.
