NetStor Launches Powerful GPU Compute Enclosure

Taiwanese company Netstor has just launched a new external GPU compute enclosure that allows the user to mount up to six different video cards or GPU compute accelerators such as AMD’s FirePro or Nvidia’s Tesla in a single box and connect it to an SFF workstation.

The new NA255A external PCIe Gen3 to GPU desktop enclosure from Netstor is specifically designed to house up to four powerful video cards or GPU compute accelerators in four PCI Express 3.0 x16 slots.

The NA255A also comes with two additional PCI Express 3.0 x4 slots where the user can also mount video cards with x1 or x4 connectors.

Netstor clearly says that, despite the fact that there are four PCI Express 3.0 x16 slots present inside the NA255A desktop enclosure, each slot has an x8 bandwidth.

In addition, the connection to the host card installed in the user’s workstation only has the standard PCIe 3.0 x16 bandwidth of 128 Gb/s.

On the other hand, a bandwidth of 128 Gb/s is nothing to sneeze at and could really be useful in GPU compute applications.

The enclosure comes with its own 1000W server grade power supply unit (PSU) and also features no less than eight 8-pin PCIe power connectors for up to 4 high-performance GPU cards.

The cooling is handled by two 120-millimeter fans, but there is an optional rear blower fan, as well.

Moreover, Netstor’s NA255A unit has a set of sensors that will sound an alarm if the temperature reaches beyond 55 degrees Celsius or if one of the fans fails.

There is no official information on pricing, but the Netstor NA255A external PCIe Gen3 to GPU desktop enclosure is definitely an interesting solution for those who want to have GPU compute power at hand, but also desire a normal or even small-sized workstation for everyday work.