Go beyond the desktop with the most flexible storage, docking, and PCIe expansion solution for any rackmount use.

4-Bay Thunderbolt Storage, Docking & PCIe Expansion Rackmount Solution
- Drive diversity: use SATA/SAS and U.2/M.2 NVMe drives for up to 128TB of capacity and real-world Thunderbolt speeds up to 2750MB/s
- Drive flexibility: swap drives quickly and easily if/when needed
- Go Maximum: utilize U.2 NVMe SSDs - as well as the OWC ecosystem of U.2 drives and adapters - for incredible speed and flash density per bay
- Powerfully easy RAID: create, manage, and monitor advanced RAID sets with OWC SoftRAID
- Use it all: connect keyboards, mixers, cameras, displays, and mobile devices such as tablets with (2) USB-C 10Gb/s and (3) USB-A 10Gb/s ports
- See more: connect up to an 8K display to the DisplayPort 1.4 port
- Do more: add a half-length full-height single-width audio/video capture, 10Gb Ethernet, SSD storage, hardware RAID, or I/O card to the PCIe x16 lane (at x4 speed) slot
- Configurable: daisy chain up to five devices or add an additional display with the second Thunderbolt (USB-C) port
- Charge: keep your notebook powered with 85W via the upstream Thunderbolt port
- Worry-free: 5 Year OWC Limited Warrant

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 Flex 1U4 to be your rackmount workflow game-changer.

FLEXible Storage

Drive Diversity
Use SATA/SAS3 and U.2/M.24 NVMe drives for up to 128TB2 of capacity and real-world Thunderbolt speeds up to 2750MB/s

Drive Flexibility
Swap drives quickly and easily if/when needed

Get Maximum
Utilize U.2 NVMe SSDs as well as the OWC ecosystem of U.2 drives and adapters for incredible speed and flash density per bay

Powerful Easy RAID
Create, manage, and monitor advanced RAID sets with OWC SoftRAID

Docking Flexibility

Use It All
Connect keyboards, mixers, cameras, displays, and mobile devices such as tablets with (1) USB-C 10Gb/s and (3) USB-A 10Gb/s ports.

Charge
Keep your notebook powered with 85W via the upstream Thunderbolt port1

See More
Connect up to an 8K display to the DisplayPort 1.4 5

Rack Up Workflow FLEXibility
You’ll turn your expandability and connectivity dreams into reality when you add Flex 1U4 to your rack or cart.
- Add up to an 8K display via DisplayPort. And when you have a custom capture, recording, networking, or storage need, Flex 1U4 lets you install a PCIe card to conquer specialized tasks.
- 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.
- 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.

Future Ready
When your workflow needs change, the “FLEXpandability” of the OWC Flex 1U4 easily adapts. Add new drives, connect different devices, and install the PCIe expansion card of your choice – like the OWC 10G Ethernet PCIe 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
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, 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 it with Flex 1U4.

A Complete Swap and Share Ecosystem
When you need to move data outside or beyond the local network, Flex 1U4 helps you go with the flow. Thanks to the OWC U.2 ecosystem, moving and sharing data with Flex 1U4 is fast and easy. Swap out and ship a project from field to post in video production workflows. Move backup data to an offline colocation for backup workflows. The combination of Flex 1U4 and the OWC U.2 ecosystem opens a new dimension to data transfer possibilities.

The Most Powerful RAID Tool on the Planet.
SoftRAID is the world’s fastest and most flexible application to configure, maintain, and protect your RAID volumes on Mac and PC. OWC enclosures include 3 Years of SoftRAID Premium.
- High-Performance RAID 0/1/4/5/1+0 (10) volumes
- Predictive Health Monitoring proactively notifies of Volume and Disk issues well before failure — provided on your computer and remotely
- Seamless Cross-Platform Sharing with support for Apple-formatted APFS and HFS+ SoftRAID volumes between Mac and Windows at no additional cost
- 35+ Years of Experience of Pro Support to provide peace-of-mind with setup help, ongoing questions, or urgent disk issues
- And many more unique features.
M1 Macs require macOS 11.3 or later. SoftRAID is licensed per computer.

Thunderbolt Made Easy
We make it easy to choose the right gear. Our Thunderbolt Certified products offer the same performance and functionality whether they are Thunderbolt 3 or Thunderbolt 4. And if you’re rocking a beloved Thunderbolt 2 machine, we offer an adapter so you can plug into our universe of award-winning solutions. No hassles, no confusion. That’s the OWC Difference.

Apple Mac models with Thunderbolt 2/Thunderbolt ports can be connected using an Apple Thunderbolt 3 (USB-C) to Thunderbolt 2 Adapter and a Thunderbolt 2 cable (available separately). This configuration provides data transfer at up to 20Gb/s but does not support notebook charging.

Ready to Rack
Flex 1U4 comes complete with hardware for mounting into most racks and cabinets.

OWC Thunderbolt Cable Included
OWC Flex 1U4 comes with a certified 0.7M OWC Thunderbolt Cable. But if your workflow demands a different length to make the connection, OWC Thunderbolt (USB-C) Cables are the perfect choice.

Certified for Demanding Use
We understand having confidence in gear reliability is paramount to creative professionals. That’s why OWC Flex 1U4 solutions go through a multi-step performance certification prior to shipping. This ensures they arrive operating properly and immediately ready for demanding use.

Stabilize Thunderbolt and USB-C Cables
Active workspaces expose gear to bumps, shoves, or even the random tail wag from a pet. OWC ClingOn custom cable stabilizers (sold separately) screw into the OWC Dock or OWC Drive housing to reduce – if not completely eliminate – cable strain on Thunderbolt and USB-C connections so you can work with confidence even in the highest foot traffic environments.

1. Apple Mac models with Thunderbolt 2/Thunderbolt ports can be connected using an Apple Thunderbolt 3 (USB-C) to Thunderbolt 2 Adapter and a Thunderbolt 2 cable (available separately). This configuration provides data transfer at up to 20Gb/s but does not support notebook charging.
2. Up to 128TB supported via 4 x OWC U2 Shuttles (16 x 8TB NVMe M.2 SSDs) available soon.
3. SAS drives are supported with SAS drive controller card (available separately).
4. Up to four U.2 drives are supported. M.2 drives are also supported with M.2 to U.2 adapter such as the OWC U2 Shuttle and OWC U2 ShuttleOne (available separately).
5. Full DisplayPort 1.4 capabilities depends on host computer support of DisplayPort 1.4 specification through its Thunderbolt 3 connection, host computer GPU capabilities, and connecting cable capabilities.

Includes
(1) OWC Flex 1U4
(1) 0.7M Thunderbolt Cable
(1) Rack Mounting Hardware for 19-26" Racks and Cabinets
(1) Quick Start Guide for OWC Flex 1U4
(1) User Guide for OWC Flex 1U4
(1) 3 Years of SoftRAID Premium Access (License located on device)
(1) Quick Start Guide for OWC SoftRAID (Digital)
1 Year OWC Limited Warranty

Detailed Specs
Drive Bays: 4 bays supporting: 2.5-inch SATA drives, 3.5-inch SATA drives, 2.5-inch U.2 drives, 3.5-inch U.2 drives, M.2 drives (with M.2 to U.2 adapter), 2.5-inch SAS drives (with SAS drive controller card), 3.5-inch SAS drives (with SAS drive controller card) , Bays 1-2 each support x4 lanes PCIe, bays 3-4 each support x1 lane PCIe
Plug and Play: Yes
Hot Swap Support: Yes
Hot Plug Support: Yes
Boot Support: Boot Camp is not supported.
RAID Features: Software RAID
Expansion Slots: (1) Full-height, half-length PCIe 3.0 x16 (physical) slot running at PCIe 3.0 x4 lane performance
Device Ports:
(1) Host Port - Thunderbolt 3 (USB-C) up to 40Gb/s (5000MB/s)
(1) Thunderbolt 3 (USB-C) Port
(2) USB 3.2 Gen 2 Type-C Ports up to 10Gb/s (1250MB/s) - USB 2.0/3.0 backwards compatible
(3) USB 3.2 Gen 2 Type-A Ports up to 10Gb/s (1250MB/s) - USB 2.0/3.0 backwards compatible
(1) DisplayPort Port
Power Delivery:
One Thunderbolt 3 port with 85W power delivery
One Thunderbolt 3 port with 15W power delivery
Two USB-C ports with 15W power delivery
Display Support:
Up to two 4K displays @ 60Hz,
or one 8K display @ 60Hz,
or one 4K display @ 120Hz,
or one 5K display @ 60Hz
Display Support by Port: Thunderbolt 3 (Titan Ridge): Up to 8K @ 60Hz or 4K @ 120Hz via a native Thunderbolt 3 display or other display that supports USB-C connections and DisplayPort 1.4 , DisplayPort 1.4: Up to 8K @ 60Hz or 4K @ 120Hz
Data Transfer Rate (Maximum): Thunderbolt 3 : Up to 40Gb/s (or 5000MB/s)
Host Interface Requirements: Thunderbolt (USB-C) port (backward compatible with Thunderbolt 2/Thunderbolt1)
Mac OS Compatibility:
macOS 10.15 Catalina
macOS 11.x Big Sur
macOS 12.x Monterey
macOS 13.x Ventura
macOS 14.x Sonoma
macOS 15.x Sequoia
PC OS Compatibility: Not compatible with Windows PCs
External Power Adapter: No
Power Supply: Internal UL-listed universal auto-switching power supply
AC Input: 90-264V, 47-63Hz, 3.5A At 100V (Max.), 1.8A At 240V (Max.)
DC Output: +12V, 25A
Wattage: 300W
Cooling: (3) cooling fans
Security Slot: No
Power Button: Yes
Housing Color: Black
Dimensions: Height: 4.4 cm (1.7 in) , Length: 45.6 cm (18.0 in) , Width: 43.0 cm (16.9 in)
Weight: 7.4 kg (16.31 lbs)
Rack Space: 1U
Certifications: CE, FCC, VCCI, RCM, BSMI
Ambient Temperature: Operating: 50°F to 95°F (10°C to 35°C) , Non-Operating: -40°F to 149°F (-40°C to 65°C)
Humidity: Operating: 8% to 90% non-condensing , Non-Operating: 5% to 95% non-condensing

1. Thunderbolt 2/Thunderbolt compatibility requires a certified Thunderbolt 3 (USB-C) to Thunderbolt 2 (mDP) adapter and a Thunderbolt 2 cable (available separately). This configuration provides data transfer at up to 20Gb/s but does not support notebook charging.
2. Dual display support, including available resolution and refresh rates, is dependent on host hardware and drivers.
- Apple silicon M1/M2/M3 Pro, M1/M2/M3 Max, and M1/M2 Ultra Mac models, Apple Intel-based Mac models, and Thunderbolt 4 PCs can support up to two displays at up to 4K @ 60Hz via Thunderbolt.
- Apple silicon M1/M2/M3 Mac models can support one external display up to 4K @ 60Hz via Thunderbolt.
3. The following Apple silicon M1/M2/M3 Mac models support a single display over a Thunderbolt port:
- MacBook Pro (14-inch, M3, 2023)
- MacBook Pro (13-inch, M1, 2020) - MacBookPro17,1
- MacBook Pro (13-inch, M2, 2022) - Mac14,7
- MacBook Air (M1, 2020) - MacBookAir10,1
- MacBook Air (M2, 2022) - Mac14,2
- Mac mini (M1, 2020) - Macmini9,1
4. The following Mac models provide only partial support for DisplayPort 1.4, including limiting resolution to 5K or 6K at 60Hz. Please review Apple's display specifications for your specific Mac to determine the maximum supported resolution and color depth:
- MacBook Pro (15-inch, 2018) - MacBookPro15,1
- MacBook Pro (13-inch, 2018, Four Thunderbolt 3 ports) - MacBookPro15,2
- MacBook Pro (13-inch, 2019, Four Thunderbolt 3 ports) - MacBookPro15,2
- MacBook Pro (15-inch, 2019) - MacBookPro15,1 and MacBookPro15,3
- MacBook Pro (13-inch, 2019, Two Thunderbolt 3 ports) - MacBookPro15,4
- MacBook Pro (16-inch, 2019) - MacBookPro16,1 and MacBookPro16,4
- MacBook Pro (13-inch, 2020, Four Thunderbolt 3 ports) - MacBookPro16,2
- MacBook Pro (13-inch, 2020, Two Thunderbolt 3 ports) - MacBookPro16,3
- MacBook Air (Retina, 13-inch, 2018) - MacBookAir8,1
- MacBook Air (Retina, 13-inch, 2019) - MacBookAir8,2
- MacBook Air (Retina, 13-inch, 2020) - MacBookAir9,1
- iMac (Retina 5K, 27-inch, 2019) - iMac19,1
- iMac (Retina 4K, 21.5-inch, 2019) - iMac19,2
- iMac (Retina 5K, 27-inch, 2020) - iMac20,1 and iMac20,2
- Mac mini (2018) - Macmini8,1
- Mac Pro (2019) - MacPro7,1
- Mac Pro (Rack, 2019) - MacPro7,1