Apple Xserve G5

JayS90 · May 17, 2012, 03:37 PM

Hi guys,

I have a friend who managed to get hold of 4 rack mounted Apple Xserve G5's (dual processor, no HD) and is offering to sell me one for £100.

My question is; what can I do with one (I know, stupid question!) and is it worth it?

Thanks!

Giuly · May 17, 2012, 07:05 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by JayS90

Hi guys,

I have a friend who managed to get hold of 4 rack mounted Apple Xserve G5's (dual processor, no HD) and is offering to sell me one for £100.

My question is; what can I do with one (I know, stupid question!) and is it worth it?

Thanks!

It's basically a PowerMac G5 in a fancy case.

MisterMe · May 17, 2012, 07:57 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by JayS90

Hi guys,

I have a friend who managed to get hold of 4 rack mounted Apple Xserve G5's (dual processor, no HD) and is offering to sell me one for £100.

My question is; what can I do with one (I know, stupid question!) and is it worth it?

Thanks!

Do you mean that it has no external hard drives or that it has no hard drives at all? The Xserve G5 is a 1U rack-mounted server. It defeats the purpose if the computer has no hard drives. I have found an Xserve G5 without hard drive modules for US$151. With the hard drives installed, they go for as much as US$1000. That said, many naïve users think that the Xserve is a more powerful desktop and want to use it that way. This is a mistake. The Xserve is not put to its best use as a desktop computer. It is noisy, power hungry, and not particularly fast by today's standards.

Consultant · May 19, 2012, 08:43 PM

Xserve G5 were released in January 6, 2004.

They use Serial ATA hard drive. If it comes with trays then it's easy to get it to work. Trays are expensive if they are missing trays.

Like all server products (except Mac mini Server), they are loud. If you got a closet or basement you can put it in and want to play with a 2004 computer, then maybe.

I use a dual G4 PowerMac as home server for all files, but that's not as loud as a server.

mBox · Jun 1, 2012, 03:15 PM

I just contacted OWC on finding drives for the Apple Xserve G5 2006.
They told me that the system is picky about drives so it sounds like theyve had issues with past sales.
They told me to contact Apple.
I really would like to use this old one for offsite back-up.
Loading it up with 2 or 3 1TB (or more) would be best.
Anyone have tips?

mus0r · Jun 1, 2012, 03:24 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by mBox

I just contacted OWC on finding drives for the Apple Xserve G5 2006.
They told me that the system is picky about drives so it sounds like theyve had issues with past sales.
They told me to contact Apple.
I really would like to use this old one for offsite back-up.
Loading it up with 2 or 3 1TB (or more) would be best.
Anyone have tips?

I've had no problems using Western Digital Caviar Black drives in any Xserve.

mBox · Jun 1, 2012, 03:26 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by mus0r

I've had no problems using Western Digital Caviar Black drives in any Xserve.

Really? Even as old as the 2006 G5? Can you give me a model number, Ill take my chances with your input

mus0r · Jun 1, 2012, 03:29 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by mBox

Really? Even as old as the 2006 G5? Can you give me a model number, Ill take my chances with your input

Any Xserve. I've replaced drives in G4 Xserves through 2008 Xserves and never bought one of the Apple branded drives.

Just go to macsales.com and find a Caviar Black.

sauria · Jan 8, 2013, 03:13 PM

Did you find drives that work? WD Caviar Black 2G SATAII drive does not.

onecajun · Jan 10, 2013, 10:56 AM

Use hitachi 2 tb drives they will work.

sauria · Jan 10, 2013, 01:40 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by onecajun

Use hitachi 2 tb drives they will work.

Thanks! Do they require any jumper settings? SATA150 drives? Do you know a model number? I've tried 10 different drives Deskstar, WD Caviar, Maxtor, Hitachi, IBM, Seagate. I also tried to install and boot off of a firewire enclosure and the installation of 10.4.3 finished but I couldn't boot or select the drives in startup disk. Tried FireWire 400 & 800 enclosures, even an old Apple Firmware IDE Deskstar in the enclosure with no success. I appreciate the help, toughest Mac I've ever had.

Shaydy · Jan 14, 2013, 06:27 AM

I dropped in 2x Seagate Barracuda ST2000DM001 2TB 7200 RPM SATAIII drives into my dual G5 Xserve with no drama.

The drives were instantly recognised and I now have them in a RAID 0 config for streaming media to my HTPCs.

Drive set me back $118 AUD each from MWave.

sauria · Jan 14, 2013, 09:52 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Shaydy

I dropped in 2x Seagate Barracuda ST2000DM001 2TB 7200 RPM SATAIII drives into my dual G5 Xserve with no drama.

The drives were instantly recognised and I now have them in a RAID 0 config for streaming media to my HTPCs.

Drive set me back $118 AUD each from MWave.

Thanks

May 17, 2012, 03:37 PM	#1
JayS90 macrumors member Join Date: Jan 2011 Location: London, UK	Apple Xserve G5 Hi guys, I have a friend who managed to get hold of 4 rack mounted Apple Xserve G5's (dual processor, no HD) and is offering to sell me one for £100. My question is; what can I do with one (I know, stupid question!) and is it worth it? Thanks! __________________ Macbook Pro 15" / OS X 10.6.8 / 2.4GHz i5 / 8GB RAM / 320GB HDD iPhone 3GS 16GB / iOS 5.1.1 / Untethered JB
	0

May 19, 2012, 08:43 PM	#4
Consultant macrumors G5 Join Date: Jun 2007	Xserve G5 were released in January 6, 2004. They use Serial ATA hard drive. If it comes with trays then it's easy to get it to work. Trays are expensive if they are missing trays. Like all server products (except Mac mini Server), they are loud. If you got a closet or basement you can put it in and want to play with a 2004 computer, then maybe. I use a dual G4 PowerMac as home server for all files, but that's not as loud as a server. __________________ * Is redesign innovation? The false burdens of Apple iOS * \| Apple User Art \| Celebs with Macs \| Mac: Power Users \| Tech Humor
	0

Jan 8, 2013, 03:13 PM	#9
sauria macrumors regular Join Date: Jul 2001 Location: Texas, USA	Drives Did you find drives that work? WD Caviar Black 2G SATAII drive does not.
	0

Jan 10, 2013, 10:56 AM	#10
onecajun macrumors newbie Join Date: Jan 2011 Location: Houma LA	Hard drive for G5 Use hitachi 2 tb drives they will work. __________________ 8 Core Wstmere Mac Pro,14gb,SSD,5770,ACD 30in XserveG5 Dual Core Xserve2008 8 Core Xserve Raid (raid 5) Xserve2009 4 Core Mac Mini Svr 2010 Macbook-Pro I7 15"
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Jun 1, 2012, 03:15 PM	#5
mBox macrumors 68020 Join Date: Jun 2002	I just contacted OWC on finding drives for the Apple Xserve G5 2006. They told me that the system is picky about drives so it sounds like theyve had issues with past sales. They told me to contact Apple. I really would like to use this old one for offsite back-up. Loading it up with 2 or 3 1TB (or more) would be best. Anyone have tips?
	0

Jan 14, 2013, 06:27 AM	#12
Shaydy macrumors newbie Join Date: Jan 2013 Location: Canberra, Australia	I dropped in 2x Seagate Barracuda ST2000DM001 2TB 7200 RPM SATAIII drives into my dual G5 Xserve with no drama. The drives were instantly recognised and I now have them in a RAID 0 config for streaming media to my HTPCs. Drive set me back $118 AUD each from MWave.
	0


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