Stackable Macs?

[arn]

This Wired article (http://www.wired.com/news/medtech/0,1286,50454,00.html) indicates a demand for rack-mountable Macs.

Researchers are increasingly hooking up ordinary PCs into clusters to make cut-price supercomputers. But to do so, the hardware must come in "rack-mountable" boxes that can be stacked floor to ceiling in specially made racks.


This reflects a number of predictions that have sprung up over the years that Apple may revamp it's server line with a rackmount design. If Apple is serious about winning over the server/biotech market it seems a natural fit...

[mischief]

So what DO you get when you cross a Quicksilver Mac with a Lego brick??:D

[3rdpath]

www.gvstore.com
this company offers some nice looking rack mount macs though i haven't seen one in person. anyone have any experience withthese guys?

[Timothy]

Why not just make all Macs rack-mountable? I mean, build the form factor to at most a 4U size and include handles. Then, perhaps desk manufacturers would start to make rack mounts for "under" the desk, which mount flush to the front, perhaps; thereby giving you access to drives, etc, but removing the unit from the "desktop."

This would please the server world (sort of, I'd still like a 1u or 2u unit), and also provide an added benefit to the desktop market. You could still stand it on end if needs be, but also fit it in standard rack spaces.

(And yes, I know you can buy mounting gear for the current quicksilvers...but they are just too large for serious server spaces).

[AlphaTech]

Marathon offers items to convert your G3 blue and white all the way up to the latest G4 system into a rack mounted computer. See it at http://www.marathoncomputer.com/. That would allow you to stack up a rack full of G4 dp1HGz systems to your hearts delight (even if it busts your wallet).

[AlphaTech]

They also have other items, for iMac's, older Apple systems, as well as a new rack enclosure for your G4 system... all at http://www.marathoncomputer.com/products.html

[mischief]

Having a tower on it's side is bad for the drives. The spindle bearings are set to take weight through their axis, not across it. If Apple makes an "ACDC" case it would have to be a Desktop or have "switcheable" drive mounts.

[gbojim]

I've purchased 2 systems from gvstore.com and had no problems with them at all. You definitely want to use SCSI drives if the drives will be mounted vertically so the bearings don't wear out.

[Choppaface]

a friend of mine took his G4 out of its case and put it in a normal case with no problems. so you could probably just stick the thing in a normal rack mount case and have no problem about parts hanging from an angle

[sespinos]

Is it just me, or does this seem to make a lot of sense considering the fact that OSX is unix based? With that in mind, it seems like the server crowd would be more than happy to buy rack-mountable macs.

[Rower_CPU]

I'm torn on this issue...
We have a G4 450 server that's such a beautiful machine I hate to see it just sit there in our server room. On the other hand, how would Apple create a rack mountable design that's elegant and looks good?
I'd hate to see Apple make monstrosities like Dell had with their servers!

[3rdpath]

thanks for the info. (and glad its positive, they're the only guys i've found that offer something this nice.)

[AlphaTech]

I keep praying to the computer gods that I will be allowed to set up a Mac server at work. I would love it, since the stabilty will be through the roof (compared to the windowz servers that we have now that almost everyone uses). I know maintaining it will be a snap, with practically zero down time and security that windowz can't come close to. Getting rid of the peecee server admin would be a side benefit as well. Even though it would put more on my plate, I will gladly take it :D.

With the speed that two departments chew up server space, having a G4 server on the network would make adding storage a snap.

If/when I ever get the green lite, I will be in heaven. :D

Mac's rule, peecee's drool.

[Rower_CPU]

AlphaTech

Mac OS X Server is a dream come true!
The Server Admin appication makes all of the general settings a breeze, and if you need to more in depth you can configue Apache to your heart's content through the command line. I've seen people at my work wrestle with setting up Win2K Server and I just shake my head and laugh.
Just like Apple says: Everything is easier on a Mac. (even server administration)

[AlphaTech]

Rower_CPU

Great to hear...

I knew that Apple would have it right.

The ONLY version of win2k server that is close to easy is the advanced version. That one even installs the Mac services for you so that you don't need to ad them later.

I am even thinking about getting the low license count of OS X server to try at home on my next tower.

[3rdpath]

didn't mean to dis the marathon info....thought it was the same ol thing they always advertise. wonder why they don't push on the full enclosures?

[Rower_CPU]

AlphaTech-

Before you go out and drop $500 on OS X Server 10 client make sure you don't already have enough web serving power already.
Even the desktop version of OS X has Apache built in and you can do basic web serving with it. Just get comfy with the Terminal and make sure you have a static IP from your ISP!

[AlphaTech]

Probably because of the cost difference between the add on parts and pulling everything out of your G4 case and putting it into one of theirs. If you need the U space savings, then going with one of their cases is the way to go. Otherwise, just go with the replacement parts and get going sooner.

I am putting together a list of everything that I would need to make a sweet Mac server for work. It should be an interesting list. I just wonder if they will ever allow us to spend the money and do it.

[AlphaTech]

Rower_CPU

I have a small network here at home now. I have the airport base station configured to give out IP addresses. I think I have it set to refresh them every 2 weeks. I would rather test it on my LAN then a WAN. Since that is going to be what a Mac server would be doing at work (accessed by about 200-300 people depending on what it needs to do, or groups will be hitting it).

I can start experimenting now, but my current tower will be gone in less then a month (three weeks now). I am waiting for Apple to release something that really grabs me before I make another tower purchase.

[Xapplimatic]

Now just why would a computer want to mount a rack anyways? Geez.. nah, seriously.. what about an iPod rackmount? Could be like a Palm Dock, but Racks up iPods so all the execs can go to lunch with tunes... Man I must be sniffing burned capacitor vapor again or something...

[blakespot]

Yes, indeed this - http://www.gvstore.com/gvs90apg4wor4.html - does look interesting. That's the best solution at this time, it would seem.


blakespot

[metsfan]

sell motherboards, and let the rest of the world to put them in anything they want.

[AlphaTech]

That will happen right after hell freezes over, or m$ releases a flawless operating system (both have the same chance of happening).

[kansaigaijin]

I thought the story was about clusters, so it would be interesting to know just what is necessary for a cluster node?
-do they all need harddrives?
-graphics, what is essential?
and then there is the question of what the machines are useful for when the project is finished? usually they get handed down to other users, what would stripped down machines be good for?

It seems to me a cluster node would only need lots of ram, gigabit ethernet and netboot,(for dedicated clusters)
But a much bigger development in the Mac world I think would be clusters of macs in offices that share processors time, your Mac would use time on other machines on your local network that are underutilized.
Servers are another matter. What is the cost of a typical intel server unit?

[metsfan]

Steven is an innovator, but he is narrow minded.

If Apple board is happy with 5% market share, then they willl keep him.
If they have a larger dream -- like taking over the world -- then, they shuould fire him. This is the second, and perhaps last, chance to do it.

Shall we see a fresh Apple?

[Bifrost]

kansaigaijin,

I can tell you what I am currently buying for the Mac cluster that I am building. Space is not a big issue for me (I have a good size lab room and nothing but computers to put in there). So I don't need to pay extra for rack-mountable hardware. I just buy from the Apple online store, but I remove as many bells and whistles as I can. Currently I have two machines that have larger hard drives, one with a Superdrive for archiving data. The other machine in the cluster, and probably all future purchases, are as stripped down as I can get from Apple. Cheapest graphics card (these machines don't even have their own monitor, what do I need a good graphics card for?), no modem, smallest hard drive, etc. I don't think I could do without the hard drive entirely, since running physics simulation code on the cluster occasionally requires individual nodes to do a local write to a file. My main concern is for two things: gigabit ethernet and the processor. I'd love to see more cache on the processor and a faster system bus (currently my large scale jobs have to write to the hard drive, which eats up a ton of time).

Anyway, it would be nice for Apple to address the cluster/server crowd directly. It looks like, for the links given above, that the server crowd does have some good options. To be honest, I think the scaled-down versions of the PowerMac G4s at the Apple store are a pretty good buy for someone building a mac cluster. So no complaints here. Saving some extra $ with cheaper graphics cards or smaller hard drives would be nice, but not essential. The benefits of Apple hardware and OS X entirely outweigh those considerations.

[kansaigaijin]

Bifrost,

thanks very much for the informative post.
I guess the Wired people aren't rooting around too hard for computing bargains. My brother bought one of those 733's a year ago, now they sell for much much less. Nice to be able to buy from the edu channel. The are available on the used market here in Japan (Sofmap) also.

and from the server crowd?
Don't need graphics either, but . . .

I think most of the posters cant get away from the mac perspective of doing different things with thier computers, while the serious servers desired by some only serve.

Anyway, I think it is early days yet for OSX, we would not have had this kind of thread in the 9 era. We could see all manner of weird and wonderful things come out of Cupertino in the years ahead.

[swahilibill]

anybody know where I can get parts to build my own Power Mac G4 tower. I dont know crap about building a computer but I would love to make my own. Dont laugh at me but can i get G4 towers that are empty. If anybody knows real information about this, email me at robertherman87@earthlink.net

[kansaigaijin]

not laughing, but that is a kind of PC thing. You could check eBay or the mail order places for repair parts etc, you can also check out xlr8yourmac.com , people there are posting stories about all kinds of mods to thier machines.
Generally they are taking G4 boards and putting them in PC towers to get the extra drive bays etc. Not an easy thing as you will see if you read some of the posts. But could be an interesting project.
as per the thread I am thinking about a G4 board in a Centris 610 box, the original pizza box Mac (1993). You can propbably buy an old one for $10 or so (or a 6100). But how to fit the video card in at ninety degrees? Nah the processor card would be too high also, I think it really would a totally new motherboard.
and other problems!

[AlphaTech]

It would cost you more to build a G4 then to buy one from Apple. I was looking into building a G3 a while back, and to buy just the motherboard was about a grand.