Rosewill is a PC case brand name I haven’t heard for a very long time, but they have just announced a couple of new chassis that are bound to turn some heads – especially if you’re in the market for some serious storage. The THOR NAS and THOR NAS Pro, two new full-tower cases, are designed for building your own server/NAS systems, as their names might suggest.
What makes these stand out from the crowd is their full-tower desktop form factor. Forget the industrial look of traditional rackmount chassis, as these are designed to sit comfortably on or under your desk, using traditional ATX motherboard solutions, making them a much more appealing option for home, office, or even studio environments where a dedicated server rack just isn’t practical.
They also just remind me of PC cases from ten years ago, where you have a rack of HDD bays towards the front of the case, and it’s nice to see that retro vibe in these new cases.
Data Hoarder Friendly
Both models are built to handle a serious amount of storage, but they approach expandability in slightly different ways:
- THOR NAS: This is the base model, it still supports a whopping 11x 3.5″ HDDs and 2x 2.5″ SSDs via internal trays. But here’s where it gets interesting: You can add up to three optional Rosewill hot-swap drive cages (sold separately) to truly unleash more power. Do that, and you’re looking at a high-availability solution with support for up to 12x hot-swappable 3.5″ HDDs and 2x 2.5″ SSDs.
- THOR NAS Pro: If you need maximum flexibility and uptime right out of the box, the Pro model is your go-to. It comes with 8x pre-installed hot-swappable 3.5″ bays (via two included cages). On top of that, it supports an additional 5x 3.5″ HDDs and 2x 2.5″ SSDs via internal trays, bringing the grand total to an impressive 13x 3.5″ HDDs and 2x 2.5″ SSDs.
Keeping Things Cool
When you’re cramming that many drives into a case, cooling becomes paramount. Thankfully, the generous internal space of the full-tower design will help with cooling performance. The cases come with one pre-installed 140 mm PWM fan, and there’s plenty of support for additional fans or even liquid cooling should you require it. HDDs can get hot, but cooling them is relatively easy with just a couple of lower RPM fans to keep the air moving in and out of the case. Of course, you’ll need more cooling if you’re running a high-end CPU or GPU in here too.
Built to Last, With Modern Connectivity
As you’d expect from Rosewill, both models feature sturdy steel construction, ensuring they’ll stand the test of time. And for modern convenience, both the THOR NAS and THOR NAS Pro offer a front-panel USB 3.2 Type-C port for lightning-fast data transfers.
Who Are These For?
Rosewill has laid out some options for who these cases are ideal for, and honestly, I’m tempted to ditch my NAS and build something even more extreme with one of these! I just need to save up more money for the extra hard drives!
- Home Users & Media Enthusiasts: Perfect for consolidating vast media libraries (think photos, videos, and music) in a desktop-friendly format.
- Small/Medium Businesses & Remote Offices: A cost-effective, high-capacity solution for file servers or backup targets without the need for dedicated rack infrastructure.
- Creative Professionals: Provides centralised, high-capacity storage for demanding photo and video editing workflows.
- Home Lab & Tech Enthusiasts: An excellent foundation for building powerful custom NAS, unRAID, or TrueNAS servers.
- Surveillance System Storage (NVR): Offers reliable storage for multiple camera feeds.
So, if you’re looking to build a serious NAS system but don’t fancy the industrial look of a rackmount chassis, the Rosewill THOR NAS and THOR NAS Pro could be exactly what you need to keep your data organised and accessible.
The Rosewill Thor NAS is available on Amazon now for just £312.01 while the Pro is £395.50.
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