We report on the characterization of a diode-side-pumped Nd:YAG rod laser operating at high CW output power. A four-fold pump configuration is designed and the pump light is directly coupled into the Nd:YAG rod without the help of any cylindrical lenses. The distribution of pump light in the Nd:YAG rod has been calculated by using ray tracing program. The thermal lens effect of the Nd:YAG rod has been experimentally measured. A maximum output power of 800 W at 1064 nm in multimode operation is obtained for a pump power of 2400 W with 33% optical-optical efficiency. At the same time, the maximum beam parameter product of 25 mm·mrad is achieved.