The Rackmount Workflow Game-Changer
Since the launch of the OWC ThunderBay desktop storage line in 2014, computer users across the planet have continued to fall in love with it. They embrace its massively powerful RAID capacity and intense performance fueled by time-tested OWC reliability. Its appeal skyrocketed when it was infused with industry-first FLEXibility to create ThunderBay Flex 8.
Now businesses, institutions, studios, and creatives can go beyond the desktop with the OWC Flex 1U4. This innovative 4-bay rackmount solution is ready to fuel your endeavors with the best combination of storage capacity, Thunderbolt transfer performance, drive flexibility, and device expandability. With FLEX in its name, you can count on the OWC Flex 1U4 to be your rackmount workflow game-changer.
Rack Up Workflow Flexibility
You'll turn your expandability and connectivity dreams into reality when you add the OWC Flex 1U4 to your rack or cart. Use a mix of 2.5 or 3.5-inch SATA/SAS and U.2/M.2 NVMe drives with four quick-access, hot-swappable drive bays. Connect mixers, keyboards, cameras, and other gear to your heart's content as well as charge mobile devices with an ample variety of Thunderbolt and USB ports. Add up to an 8K display via DisplayPort. And when you have a custom capture, recording, networking, or storage need, the OWC Flex 1U4 lets you install a PCIe card to conquer specialized tasks.
Future Ready
When your workflow needs change, the "FLEXpandability" of the OWC Flex 1U4 easily adapts. Add new drives, connect different devices, and install a half-length full-height single-width PCIe x16 card of your choice like a 10Gb Ethernet networking card or the blistering fast OWC Accelsior 4M2 SSD for expanded performance storage capacity. By not locking you into an inflexible single-task design, the OWC Flex 1U4 extends its useful life and maximizes your investment well into the future.
Ideal for All Rackmount Environments
The OWC Flex 1U4 is like a bolt-in productivity supercharger for new or existing rack environments powered by a rack Mac Pro, MacBook Pro, or even a Mac mini. Whether you build your own custom drive and card configuration or select one of our convenient ready-to-run solutions, the OWC Flex 1U4 is ideal in a wide variety of settings:
- In School: perfect for taming ever-growing collections of digital files with easy integration and future drive capacity and performance scalability.
- At Work: adds Thunderbolt speed and swappable drives to server closets, server rooms, or colocation center backup capabilities.
- On Stage: handles all the storage and peripheral connectivity needs "front of house" pros require for live performances.
- On Set: easily fits into mobile DIT carts to capture multi-stream, hi-res footage at full framerate while daisy-chaining up to five additional Thunderbolt devices.
- In Studio: expands storage and connectivity options of fixed racks.
- At Home: great for installers creating a high-performance home entertainment server closet.
Do It U.2 It
A hallmark of OWC FLEX technology is the ability to use U.2 NVMe SSDs as well as the OWC ecosystem of U.2 drives and adapters. U.2 NVMe drives are specifically designed to maximize the PCIe bus and when combined with Thunderbolt, you'll blast past fast with up to 2750MB/s real-world transfer speed. Whether you use your rackmount setup to complete massive backups faster, stream content during a live performance, edit large format video, or run high transactional and complex calculation applications, you can do it U.2 to it with the OWC Flex 1U4.
- General Information
- Manufacturer
- Other World Computing
- Manufacturer Website Address
- https://www.owc.com/
- Brand Name
- OWC
- Product Line
- Flex 1U4
- Packaged Quantity
- 1
- Product Type
- Drive Enclosure
- Warranty
- Limited Warranty
- 5 Year
- Technical Information
- Number of Hard Drives Supported
- 4
- Number of Hard Drives Installed
- 4
- Total Hard Drive Capacity Installed
- 80 TB
- Number of Solid State Drive Supported
- 4
- Number of Solid State Drive Installed
- 0
- Maximum Data Transfer Rate
- 40 Gbit/s
- Controllers
- Controller Type
- Serial ATA
- NVMe
- Software RAID Supported
- Yes
- I/O Expansions
- Number of Total Expansion Bays
- 4
- Number of 2.5"/3.5" Bays
- 4
- Hot Swappable Bays
- Yes
- Network & Communication
- Wireless LAN
- No
- Interfaces/Ports
- Drive Interface
- Serial ATA
- Serial Attached SCSI (SAS)
- U.2
- PCI Express NVMe
- Network (RJ-45)
- Yes
- Host Interface
- Thunderbolt 3
- Number of USB Ports
- 5
- Number of Thunderbolt 3 Ports
- 2
- Number of DisplayPorts
- 1
- Software
- Operating System Supported
- Mac OS X 10.15 Catalina
- Mac OS X 11.x Big Sur
- Mac OS X 12.x Monterey
- Mac OS X 13.x Ventura
- Mac OS X 14.x Sonoma
- macOS Sequoia 15.x
- Power Description
- Maximum Power Supply Wattage
- 120 W
- Physical Characteristics
- Color Family
- Black
- Product Color
- Black
- Cooling Fan
- Yes
- Form Factor
- Rack-mountable
- Rack Height
- 1U
- Height
- 1.7"
- Width
- 16.9"
- Depth
- 18"
- Weight (Approximate)
- 22.71 lb
- Miscellaneous
- Package Contents
- Flex 1U4 Drive Enclosure
- 1 x 0.7M Thunderbolt Cable
- 1 x Rack Mounting Hardware for 19-26" Racks and Cabinets
- 1 x Quick Start Guide for OWC Flex 1U4
- 1 x User Guide for OWC Flex 1U4
- 1 x 3 Years of SoftRAID Premium Access (License located on device)
- 1 x Quick Start Guide for OWC SoftRAID (Digital)
- Compatibility
- MacBook Pro (16-inch, Late 2023)
- MacBook Pro (14-inch, Late 2023)
- MacBook Pro (14-inch, Early 2023)
- MacBook Pro (16-inch, Early 2023)
- MacBook Pro (13-inch, Mid 2022)
- MacBook Pro (14-inch, Late 2021)
- MacBook Pro (16-inch, Late 2021)
- MacBook Pro (Touch, 13-inch, Late 2020)
- MacBook Pro (Touch, 13-inch, Mid 2020)
- MacBook Pro (Touch, 16-inch, Mid 2019)
- MacBook Pro (Touch, 13-inch, Mid 2019)
- MacBook Pro (Touch, 15-inch, Mid 2019)
- MacBook Pro (Touch, 15-inch, Late 2018)
- MacBook Pro (Touch, 13-inch, Mid 2018)
- MacBook Pro (Touch, 15-inch, Mid 2018)
- MacBook Pro (Touch, 15-inch, Mid 2017)
- MacBook Pro (Touch, 13-inch, Mid 2017)
- MacBook Pro (Retina, 13-inch, Mid 2017)
- MacBook Pro (Retina, Touch Bar, 15-inch, Late 2016)
- MacBook Pro (Retina, Touch Bar, 13-inch, Late 2016)
- MacBook Pro (Retina, 13-inch, Late 2016)
- MacBook Pro (Retina, 15-inch, Mid 2015)
- MacBook Pro (Retina, 13-inch, Early 2015)
- MacBook Pro (Retina, 15-inch, Mid 2014)
- MacBook Pro (Retina, 13-inch, Mid 2014)
- MacBook Pro (Retina, 15-inch, Late 2013)
- MacBook Pro (Retina, 13-inch, Late 2013)
- MacBook Air (15-inch, Early 2024)
- MacBook Air (13-inch, Early 2024)
- MacBook Air (15-inch, Mid 2023)
- MacBook Air (13-inch, Mid 2022)
- MacBook Air (13-inch, Late 2020)
- MacBook Air (13-inch, Early 2020)
- MacBook Air (13-inch, Mid 2019)
- MacBook Air (13-inch, Late 2018)
- MacBook Air (13-inch, Mid 2017)
- MacBook Air (13-inch, Early 2015)
- MacBook Air (13-inch, Early 2015)
- iMac (Retina 4.5K, 24-inch, Late 2023)
- iMac (Retina 4.5K, 24-inch, Mid 2021)
- iMac (Retina 5K, 27-inch, Mid 2020)
- iMac (Retina 4K, 21.5-inch, Early 2019)
- iMac (Retina 5K, 27-inch, Early 2019)
- iMac Pro (27-inch, Late 2017)
- iMac (Retina 5K, 27-inch, Mid 2017)
- iMac (Retina 4K, 21.5-inch, Mid 2017)
- iMac (21.5-inch, Mid 2017)
- iMac (Retina 5K, 27-inch, Late 2015)
- iMac (21.5-inch, Late 2015)
- iMac (Retina 4K, 21.5-inch, Late 2015)
- iMac (21.5-inch, Late 2015)
- iMac (Retina 5K, 27-inch, Mid 2015)
- iMac (Retina 5K, 27-inch, Late 2014)
- Mac Pro (Mid 2023)
- Mac Pro Rack (Mid 2023)
- Mac Pro (Late 2019)
- Mac Pro Rack (Late 2019)
- Mac Pro (Late 2013)
- Mac Studio (Mid 2023)
- Mac Studio (Early 2022)
- Mac mini (Early 2023)
- Mac mini (Late 2020)
- Mac mini (Late 2018)
- Mac mini (Late 2014)
- PC Compatible
- Environmental Compliance
- Waste Electrical and Electronic Equipment Directive (WEEE)