A 2U Generalist for Data-First Workloads? TFNEW ZN-2201
TL;DR: TFNEW launched the ZN-2201, a 2U general-purpose rack server, on September 21, 2026. On 2x 4th/5th Gen Intel Xeon Scalable it carries 32 DDR5 slots (5600 MT/s), eight 3.5-inch bays plus eight U.2 NVMe slots (four front, four rear), ten PCIe 5.0 slots and two OCP 3.0 NIC slots with up to 200 Gb NIC support — a node where local hot data, memory and network bandwidth are balanced, not compromised. Get specs and pricing: sales@tfnew.com.
Core Specifications (with Plain-Language Terms)
The ZN-2201 is a 2U rackmount server (87 mm tall, 799 mm deep) positioned for big data, cloud and distributed storage — the workloads where data locality and network bandwidth decide everything. Two 4th/5th Gen Intel Xeon Scalable processors sit on an Intel C741 chipset with 32 DDR5 slots up to 5600 MT/s. Storage is layered: eight 3.5-inch SAS/SATA/NVMe bays for bulk capacity, plus four 2.5-inch U.2 NVMe bays in front and four more expandable in the rear for hot working sets; a hardware RAID controller supports SAS4.0/SATA3.0 with RAID 0/1/10/5/50/6/60 and cache super-capacitor protection (a battery-free way to flush RAID cache during power loss). Networking is the differentiator: two onboard OCP 3.0 NIC slots accepting 1/10/25/100/200 Gb NICs and smart NICs — OCP (Open Compute Project) is the standardized mezzanine form factor datacenters use to swap NICs without proprietary cards. Expansion is up to ten PCIe 5.0 slots. Management is an onboard AST2600 BMC with IPMI 2.0 and Redfish; cooling is six hot-swap fans in N+1 redundancy; power is two hot-swap CRPS supplies from 1300 W to 3200 W in 1+1 redundancy.
Specs at a Glance
| Item | ZN-2201 Value |
|---|---|
| Form factor | 2U rackmount, 87 H × 447.3 W × 799 D mm |
| Processor | 2x 4th/5th Gen Intel Xeon Scalable, Intel C741 |
| Memory | 32x DDR5 slots, up to 5600 MT/s |
| Storage | 8x 3.5" SAS/SATA/NVMe + 4x front U.2 NVMe (+4 rear) |
| RAID | SAS4.0/SATA3.0, RAID 0/1/10/5/50/6/60, super-capacitor cache protection |
| Networking | 2x OCP 3.0 slots, 1/10/25/100/200 Gb and smart NICs |
| Expansion | Up to 10x PCIe 5.0 slots |
| BMC | AST2600, IPMI 2.0, Redfish |
| Cooling / Power | 6x hot-swap fans N+1; 2x CRPS 1300–3200 W, 1+1 |
| Environment | 5°C–35°C operating range |
Why a Balanced Generalist Beats a Specialized Stack
Data platforms end up with three boxes — compute nodes, storage nodes, network appliances — then spend forever tuning the links between them. The ZN-2201 is the other approach: one 2U node with the memory (32 DDR5 slots), the local hot data (eight U.2 NVMe), the bulk capacity (eight 3.5-inch bays) and the uplinks (two OCP 3.0 slots up to 200 Gb) for each tier of the workload. Scale horizontally and the node is the unit of compute, storage and bandwidth — which is why big-data, cloud and distributed-storage teams standardize on balanced 2U servers instead of bespoke racks.
Where It Fits
- Big data and analytics: local NVMe working sets plus SAS bulk storage for Spark-style jobs
- Cloud platform nodes: 32 DDR5 slots for VM density, 200 Gb uplinks for East-West traffic
- Distributed storage: 8x 3.5" + U.2 NVMe mix with super-capacitor RAID protection
- Virtualized workloads: ten PCIe 5.0 slots for NICs, controllers and accelerators
Why the Numbers Matter
- 8x U.2 NVMe + 8x 3.5" bays: hot data and bulk capacity in the same 2U
- 2x OCP 3.0 up to 200 Gb: NICs that swap in seconds, bandwidth that scales
- 32x DDR5 at 5600 MT/s: memory capacity for VM and in-memory analytics density
- 10x PCIe 5.0 slots: expansion for smart NICs, GPUs and NVMe controllers
- 3200 W 1+1 CRPS: headroom for dense NVMe and high-core configurations
What TF NEW Says
"Teams standardize on 2U for a reason: one node that can hold the memory, the data and the bandwidth," said a TF NEW product manager. "The ZN-2201 takes that standard and makes it current — 32 DDR5 slots, eight NVMe paths, two 200 Gb-capable OCP slots and ten PCIe 5.0 slots. For big-data and cloud platforms, that's the unit to scale."
Quality and Availability
Every ZN-2201 runs 48 hours of burn-in testing before shipping, with NVMe and SAS backplanes validated across all drive paths and the OCP 3.0 slots verified with 100/200 Gb reference NICs. It ships deployment-ready with IPMI/Redfish baselines and documented RAID configuration guides.
Pricing and Availability
The ZN-2201 is available now. Pricing varies with processor, memory, storage and NIC 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
- What is the ZN-2201? A 2U general-purpose server for big data, cloud and distributed storage, based on 2x 4th/5th Gen Intel Xeon Scalable.
- How much storage does it support? Eight 3.5-inch SAS/SATA/NVMe bays plus eight U.2 NVMe slots (four front, four rear-expandable).
- What networking does it offer? Two OCP 3.0 NIC slots supporting 1/10/25/100/200 Gb NICs and smart NICs.
- What RAID protection is included? Hardware RAID with SAS4.0/SATA3.0, RAID 0/1/10/5/50/6/60 and super-capacitor cache protection.
- How much memory can it take? 32 DDR5 slots at up to 5600 MT/s.