Minisforum MS-01 in a 10-inch rack

The Minisforum MS-01 puts SFP+ into a mini PC: two 10G SFP+ cages and two 2.5 GbE ports on the back of a compact workstation, plus three M.2 SSDs and a PCIe slot. It is the box for anyone who wants a 10G virtualization host in a 10-inch rack without building one from parts.

At a glance

Where it fits in a mini rack

The MS-01 is built for the Proxmox or virtualization-host role, and the specs say why. Four network ports split cleanly: the two SFP+ cages for a storage network or a 10G uplink, the two 2.5 GbE ports for management and VM traffic. Three M.2 SSDs leave room for a mirrored pair of VM disks plus a boot drive, and the PCIe slot, ×16 physical with a ×8 link, is there for an extra network card or HBA, as long as the card fits the chassis.

The same layout suits a router or firewall VM that needs 10G on the WAN or LAN side, or a single hypervisor that hosts the firewall, storage and services together.

The CPU options are all Intel H-series parts, with Iris Xe Graphics when both SO-DIMMs are fitted. Plan on dual-channel memory: with a single SO-DIMM the graphics fall back to UHD Graphics.

What it is not: a GPU workstation out of the box, or a small box. It sits right at the edge of what the hex shelf allows, as the next section shows.

How it fits a 10-inch rack

The configurator checks each placement against every rack in the catalogue:

There is no dedicated MS-01 mount in the catalogue, so the 10i hex shelf carries it. The enclosure is 189 × 195.6 × 48 mm, so it sits flat on the 150 mm shelf deck with 45.6 mm of rear overhang, inside the 46 mm the shelf allows. That takes 2U including the deck, at 200 mm deep, and fits all six RackMate frames.

In the 200 mm-deep T0 and T1, that depth uses the full frame, so the rear connectors end up at the very back of the frame. The 260 mm frames leave room for DAC cables and the power plug to bend.

Standing upright it needs 5U, which the four-unit T0 and T0 Plus do not have.

Power

The catalogue plans this machine between 16.1 W and 123.3 W. Both figures come from Notebookcheck’s measurements of an i9-13900H with 32 GB RAM and a 1 TB SSD: 16.1 W average idle and 123.3 W peak. They are not the numbers for every MS-01, since CPU, RAM, storage and any PCIe card change consumption.

The 180 W adapter is not the device draw. Use the measured peak plus whatever card you add for the power budget, and plan a place for the external adapter at the back of the rack.

Networking and cabling

All four network ports face the rear. The two 2.5 GbE RJ45 ports go to rear keystones in the same rack; never route a cable around the frame to reach a front keystone or a front-facing switch port.

The two SFP+ cages take DAC cables or optical modules. Keep the far end at the rear as well, on a switch or another host whose SFP+ cages are reachable from the back of the rack, rather than wrapping a DAC around the side of the frame.

Four ports means four cables at the back. Count two SFP+ and two 2.5G ports on your switch before you buy one, plus an uplink.

How it differs from the MS-A2

The MS-A2 uses the same 189 × 195.6 × 48 mm enclosure and the same four rear network ports, so it fits the rack exactly like the MS-01. The differences are inside:

Pick the MS-01 if you want USB4 and Intel graphics. Pick the MS-A2 for its 16-core Ryzen and documented 96 GB memory ceiling, and budget for its higher measured peak.

Full specifications

Plan it

Open the Minisforum MS-01 in the catalogue to add it to a rack plan on the hex shelf.

The Minisforum MS-A2 guide covers the AMD sibling in the same enclosure, and the MikroTik CRS305 guide covers a small SFP+ switch for the 10G side.