How Much Capacity Fits in a 2U Node? TFNEW ZN-2101
TL;DR: TFNEW launched the ZN-2101, a 2U 12-bay general-purpose server, on September 21, 2026. Around 2x 3rd Gen Intel Xeon Scalable and 32 DDR4 slots it carries twelve 3.5-inch SAS/SATA/NVMe bays (plus two 2.5-inch) — the big-drive capacity profile that turns a 2U node into a multi-hundred-TB storage target for big data, cloud and distributed storage platforms. Get specs and pricing: sales@tfnew.com.
Core Specifications (with Plain-Language Terms)
The ZN-2101 is a 2U rackmount general-purpose server (87 mm tall, 750 mm deep) with a capacity-first storage layout: up to twelve 3.5-inch SAS/SATA/NVMe bays for large HDDs and SSDs, plus two 2.5-inch bays. 3.5-inch bays are the capacity workhorse — high-terabyte HDDs (18 TB class and beyond) only come in that size, so twelve bays can exceed 200 TB of raw capacity in one node. Compute is two 3rd Gen Intel Xeon Scalable processors on an Intel C621A chipset with 32 DDR4 slots up to 3200 MT/s (RDIMM). A hardware RAID controller provides SAS4.0/SATA3.0 with RAID 0/1/10/5/50/6/60 and super-capacitor cache protection (battery-free cache flush on power loss). Networking: 2x 1GbE onboard plus one OCP 3.0 NIC slot (Open Compute Project mezzanine standard for datacenter NICs). Expansion: 2x PCIe 4.0 x32 riser slots, one x8, an MCIO x8 interface and an OCP 3.0 slot. Management is an AST2600 BMC with IPMI 2.0 and Redfish; fans are six hot-swap N+1; power is 1+1 redundant CRPS from 800 W to 2000 W.
Specs at a Glance
| Item | ZN-2101 Value |
|---|---|
| Form factor | 2U rackmount, 87 H × 430 W × 750 D mm |
| Processor | 2x 3rd Gen Intel Xeon Scalable, Intel C621A |
| Memory | 32x DDR4 slots, up to 3200 MT/s, RDIMM |
| Storage | 12x 3.5" SAS/SATA/NVMe + 2x 2.5" bays |
| RAID | SAS4.0/SATA3.0, RAID 0/1/10/5/50/6/60, super-capacitor protection |
| Networking | 2x 1GbE + 1x OCP 3.0 NIC slot |
| Expansion | 2x PCIe 4.0 x32 risers, 1x x8, MCIO x8, OCP 3.0 |
| BMC | AST2600, IPMI 2.0, Redfish |
| Power | 1+1 CRPS 800 W / 1300 W / 1600 W / 2000 W |
| Environment | 5°C–35°C operating range |
Why 3.5-Inch Bays Are a Capacity Statement
Drive size decides the storage math. 2.5-inch bays optimize for count and IOPS; 3.5-inch bays optimize for terabytes per slot. Twelve 3.5-inch positions let a 2U node hold the highest-capacity HDDs on the market — the profile that fits object stores, backup targets and big-data landing zones, where capacity per U is the metric. Pair that with 32 DDR4 slots and dual Xeon Scalable and the ZN-2101 is both the storage target and the compute engine for its data — one SKU instead of a server plus a shelf.
Where It Fits
- Big data landing zones: 12-bay capacity for raw ingest before analytics tiers
- Object storage and backup: multi-hundred-TB targets per node with RAID and super-capacitor protection
- Cloud platform nodes: capacity-rich VMs with local disks for stateful services
- Distributed storage: HDD-tier nodes in Ceph/HDFS clusters where $/TB matters
Why the Numbers Matter
- 12x 3.5" bays: 200 TB+ raw capacity in one 2U with 18 TB-class drives
- 32x DDR4 at 3200 MT/s: memory for cache and metadata alongside capacity
- RAID 0/1/10/5/50/6/60 + super-capacitor: battery-free write protection
- PCIe 4.0 x32 risers: fast links for NICs and controllers
- 800–2000 W 1+1 CRPS: power matched to dense-spindle draws
What TF NEW Says
"Storage decisions come down to $/TB and U-count, and 3.5-inch bays are where the big drives live," said a TF NEW product manager. "The ZN-2101 gives you twelve of them in 2U beside 32 DDR4 slots and dual Xeon Scalable — a capacity node that also computes, so the data platform grows in whole nodes, not in servers-plus-shelves."
Quality and Availability
Every ZN-2101 runs 48 hours of burn-in testing before shipping, with all drive paths validated against the backplane and RAID profiles in the factory. It ships deployment-ready with IPMI/Redfish baselines and documented RAID and cluster guides.
Pricing and Availability
The ZN-2101 is available now. Pricing varies with processor, memory, RAID controller and drive configuration. Contact sales@tfnew.com or use the request-a-quote form at www.tfnew.com/contact for volume pricing and lead time.
About TF NEW
TF NEW (TF New Technology) is an enterprise AI infrastructure provider based at www.tfnew.com. It designs and delivers private AI, compute, networking, storage, cooling and edge systems as deployment-ready solutions — AI servers, AI workstations, edge AI, liquid cooling and enterprise rack servers — for AI factories, datacenters and edge projects worldwide.
Media Contact
TF NEW | sales@tfnew.com | www.tfnew.com/contact
FAQ
- How many drives does the ZN-2101 hold? Twelve 3.5-inch SAS/SATA/NVMe bays plus two 2.5-inch bays in 2U.
- Why 3.5-inch bays? They accept the highest-capacity HDDs (18 TB class), maximizing terabytes per rack unit.
- What processors and memory does it use? 2x 3rd Gen Intel Xeon Scalable with 32 DDR4 slots up to 3200 MT/s.
- What RAID is supported? SAS4.0/SATA3.0 hardware RAID, RAID 0/1/10/5/50/6/60, with super-capacitor cache protection.
- What workloads is it for? Big data, cloud platform nodes, object/backup storage and distributed storage tiers.