Xserve RAID Discontinued?

[dillacom]

the Xserve RAID is gone.

[hob]

I just noticed this too! Amazing.

http://www.apple.com/server/storage/ - Promise RAID

http://www.apple.com/uk/xserve/raid/ -XServe RAID

Why are they getting rid of the nice looking one?!

[MacRumors]

Along with the announcements today of the iPod Shuffle capacity bumps and XSan 2, some users are realizing that Apple's Xserve RAID solution has completely disappeared from Apple's online store.

In addition, the Xserve RAID product page (http://www.apple.com/xserve/raid/) now redirects to http://www.apple.com/server/storage/, which promotes a 3U external RAID enclosure by Promise. Apple has added the Promise RAID solution to its store and now presents it as the external RAID choice when configuring an Xserve.

External Storage
For massive storage needs, connect a Promise VTrak E-Class Fiber Channel RAID subsystem to your Xserve. The VTrak E-Class provides high performance and high availability through 4Gb Fiber Channel and dual active/active controllers. An Apple Fibre Channel card for connectivity is required.

Article Link

[DocStone]

Wow...what's next? The mini?

Isn't there supposed to be a media event soon? Anyone know the date of that?

[Eidorian]

It's the same thing on Higher Education. Kinda sad to see it go.

[markfc]

Yep that was a great looking piece of hardware....RIP

[cohibadad]

I had a hard time finding it on their site a month ago like they were hiding it. I must have bought about the last one.

Originally Posted by markfc

Yep that was a great looking piece of hardware....RIP

It is beautiful with all it's lights on but NOISY.

[kaisdaddy]

...but so did the cube.

RAID storage is one of those markets where you have to be quick on your feet. Apple is not generally known for adjusting to the market in a hurry.

There are just too many other options out there that are either faster, cheaper or both. Granted, none of them probably look as good as Xserve (although the Pro DQ from Dulce systems is nice looking), but when you're spending that much money on storage, aesthetics are probably not at the top of your list of must-have features.

Reliable, cheap and fast are very sexy in this market, and not necessarily in that order.

[SwiftLives]

Originally Posted by DocStone

Wow...what's next? The mini?

Isn't there supposed to be a media event soon? Anyone know the date of that?

There's no media event officially (or - to my knowledge - unofficially) scheduled in the near future.

[Stella]

Originally Posted by SwiftLives

There's no media event officially (or - to my knowledge - unofficially) scheduled in the near future.

There's rumoured to be one next week... iPhone SDK announcement.

http://www.appleinsider.com/articles..._february.html

[cohibadad]

Apple promotes the mini as the headless mac solution for video use in podcast production for their leopard server. As there is no other mac to fill this role I doubt the mini will go unless it is replaced with something equivalent.

[Diode]

Makes sense ... with so many great SAN solutions out there already why choose apple?

Apple's RAID solution was outdated compared to competition.

[aaarrrgggh]

I've actually seen a lot more XServe RAID's in data centers than the XServe itself. So much for my hoping that Apple would try to push into the corporate world.

Likely not a bad thing, but I would have expected a product that would be styled more like an XServe.

[tivoli2]

They don't want to sell any Promises (heh) right away, apparently... the "Buy Now" button is broken.

[Toe]

I find it hard to believe that it is entirely gone. Perhaps it is just on a break?

The Xserve RAID was very popular even with non-Mac installations as a class-leader in RAID hardware. I can't see why they would want to kill that market.

If they kill the RAID, they might as well go ahead and kill off other high-end enterprise things like... Xsan. Which obviously they aren't doing.

The Xserve's drive modules were a full two generations behind the Xserve. Maybe they're just updating it.

[BenRoethig]

With the rumors floating around that apple has put the Pro Apps and now this, I'm starting to wonder about Apple's commitment to professional and business markets. They can be boring and not particularly innovative at times and those are the kinds of things that Jobs can lose interest in.

[tivoli2]

Originally Posted by darthraige

I don't get it, you can still purchase it on Apple's website? Or are we talking about the actual RAID bay system?

XServe

The RAID is what's gone. It must have been hindering the creation of widgets for the iPhone.

[Toe]

Originally Posted by Toe

I find it hard to believe that it is entirely gone. Perhaps it is just on a break?

Then again, after looking at the Promise RAID further (I didn't realize it was on the Apple descriptive site, not the Store), I am not so sure. Huh.

[funkyp56]

Originally Posted by tivoli2

They don't want to sell any Promises (heh) right away, apparently... the "Buy Now" button is broken.

Very true, I tried it!

[darthraige]

Originally Posted by tivoli2

The RAID is what's gone. It must have been hindering the creation of widgets for the iPhone.

Yea, that's what I figured. lol So I deleted what I said after realizing I didn't dig deeper on this. lol

[guzhogi]

When the xServe was upgraded to have SAS, I remember wondering why the RAID wasn't. Apparently, Steve Jobs doesn't like the Enterprise market.

[parapup]

... at least from Apple perspective. I am not sure that the XServe RAID sales were significant and there is no strategic reason for Apple to keep that product alive.

Wonder they will do the same thing for XServe itself? Sure it is a nicely designed product with reasonable price but not many people want to run OS X Server - compatibility, performance, training reasons etc.

I think Apple should start supporting 3rd party operating systems on the Xserve (much like how Sun does - sure they would like you to buy Solaris but don't want to lose a sale if you are a Linux or Windows shop) and see the sales picking up - there is nothing lacking in that product apart from OS Vendor Support.

[frijole]

Originally Posted by aaarrrgggh

I've actually seen a lot more XServe RAID's in data centers than the XServe itself. So much for my hoping that Apple would try to push into the corporate world.

Likely not a bad thing, but I would have expected a product that would be styled more like an XServe.

Yup. For its lack of adaptability (still ATA drives, maxed out at 750 per, when SATA goes to 1TB and beyond, and no SAS; 2GB/s Fibre Channel (when you could get a 4GB card), etc), it was still pretty inexpensive per-GB and worked well with ADIC's Stornext (what XSan is based on) on other platforms.

At NC State, a few years ago, they home-built a Linux cluster practically for the change they found in the lounge sofas in the CS buildings, and they used XServe RAIDs for storage.

[docpsycho]

Have you looked at the prospective of 3rd party manufactures are coming on board in supporting X server platforms? Sure if You get your nerd on and tweak a box sure, but ready to go options? Far and few.

And it is officially apple sanctioned...... but thats another thread.

[subgenius]

Originally Posted by guzhogi

When the xServe was upgraded to have SAS, I remember wondering why the RAID wasn't. Apparently, Steve Jobs doesn't like the Enterprise market.

I disagree, I have a Xsan deployment at work that I admin. And let me tell ya, no matter how much storage you give your end users, they will fill it. So switching to a Storage System that allows for direct expansion of the Raid Sub System instead of the switch just ROCKS!

Steve Jobs must love the enterprise!. When I had the max number of XServe Raids on my Q-logic switch, i got to go spend another 5K on a second switch and then 600 on another set of interconnect cables. Now you can just add to the Sub System and from the looks of it (i have not read the detailed tech specs yet) it maybe being done via ESAS as expansion, thus the 12Gb back plane to the expansion subsystem.

So to sum this up, the 18K I spent a year ago to a a Xserve Raid and switches, would now be just a Expansion Chassis with drives. That 5K for the switch would become more storage, not more cables and points of failure.

The only thing I wish that apple would do, is alter the pricing scheme for the Xsan Software Package, for ever Node an extra 1000$. When your a MTV or Universal that maybe fine, but when your a start up, that can hurt to add 12 editors to your San.


-SubGenius