Thecus Announces World’s First Windows Storage Server 2012 R2 Essentials NAS

Most NAS systems on the market are Linux-based and while they do support all the windows environment services, it might not be to every ones liking. If you’re one of those who prefer to run a Windows server on your NAS system, Thecus has you covered with their newest line of NAS servers. The new Windows-based NAS system come in three sizes, the W2000 2-bay, W4000 4-bay and the W5000 5-bay and powered by Windows Storage Server 2012 R2 Essentials.

“The Windows Storage Server 2012 R2 Essentials software allows small businesses to protect, centralize, organize, and access their data anywhere by using almost any device,” said Peter Han, Vice President of Worldwide OEM Marketing, Microsoft. “We believe offering our software on Thecus NAS devices will provide an excellent solution for those small businesses looking to protect their data while optimizing their resources with a hybrid, on premise, and cloud-connected offering.”

By running Windows Server software on a Thecus NAS, users will be able to simplify the integration of Microsoft’s cloud-based applications and services, including Microsoft Office 365 and Microsoft Azure. These new NAS offerings provide users of small and medium businesses with an affordable and flexible solution that minimizes resources spent on business operations by purchasing large-scale servers where they just aren’t needed.

The hardware is almost identical in all three models. They are based around the Intel dual-core Atom processor with 2.13GHz, have 2GB DDR3 memory and provide HDMI and VGA-out for direct display connectivity. The 4-bay model has a line-out added and the 5-bay model has the full setup for microphone, line-in and audio-out. All three models have dual Gigabit Ethernet RJ45 connections with MDI/MDI-X and WOL support.

External connection variate a bit more depending on model, as it is to be expected. The 2-bay model has two USB 2.0 and one eSATA port, the 4-bay has an additional two USB 3.0 ports and the 5-bay model has four USB 2.0 and one USB 3.0 on top of the eSATA. The boot drive is a 64GB SSD for the 2 and 4-bay models where the 5-bay model uses a 500GB SSHD instead.

The 2-bay model has the added benefit of a card reader whereas the 4 and 5-bay models have a display with control buttons for an added direct control. Another difference is the power supply, the 5-bay model has an internal 200W PSU where the two smaller models have an external power brick.

These three new Windows-based NAS’ will provide you with all the features you’re used to from your R2 server environment, but with a footprint and power consumption that is a lot smaller than you’re used to. The new models should be available throughout October where I’m sure they’ll receive a warm welcome.

Thank you Thecus for providing us with this information

Images courtesy of Thecus