Apple Discontinues Xserve, Only Available Until January 31st

[Mord]

I imagine they've paid attention to how much better the mac mini server sells. 1u servers are dead it's all about small low power machines used en-masse.

I half wonder if they'll produce a more specialised version of the mini server to take it's place, maybe an xNode?

 

[GEllenburg]

I think it shows that the enterprise space isn't Apple's priority: Their biggest market is the consumer one and it appears they will move to focus completely on that market in the future.

It's sad but understandable as Apple have virtually no penetration into the enterprise space and rather than fight to win market share they appear to have given up the battle.

To be fair to everyone else, the fact that Apple has no penetration into the enterprise space is entirely Apple's choosing.

My company (a Fortune 100) and I know a LOT of others, WANT to embrace Apple and Mac OS X, but I was flat-out told by our Apple rep that Apple has zero interest in the enterprise.

So I'm not entirely sure RIP is even in order. Sounds like patricide to me.

 

[German]

Apple wont be running OS X on their new servers. They will be running Linux - just like Microsoft do.

Don't think that MS is using Linux. They will user Windows Server - it is good.

 

[Snowcat001]

I'm thinking we're getting an announcement in January about the new server farm and the availability of the new product/service will begin February 1 (Xserve ends January 31).

This server farm might be a business orientated project. Companies will no longer need to have servers themselves but can use Apple's farm. This means no more maintenance, updating, etc. and not needing to run a big server yourself it will reduce energy consumption and free up some work space.
The way I sometimes see it is that in a few decades people who have a 'desk job' will no longer need to go to work but will be doing everything at home using the internet. This eliminates the need for big office buildings, reduce traffic during rush hour, etc. Employees will be able to take their kids to school themselves, they won't waste hours sitting in a car, they won't need to spend money on fuel for driving it to work and back again, they get a computer and a cellphone from work and off they go. They will be working at home. Some people I know are clearly getting into this pattern at work. Ad Facetime or Skype to it and you can have meetings etc. on the computer.

Just a thought but I think it could do allot of good.

 

[space1nvaders]

Good for Mac mini server

This could be a sign that the Mac mini server will be enhanced. Hard drives are getting bigger and before you know it there will be 16GB of RAM in the Mac mini server. Things are getting smaller. The Mac mini server has already replaced my previous XServes in my co-lo rack and I had no plans of buying anymore XServes in the future so I think (in my case) they did the right thing.

 

[meester.nid]

WHAT?? Were you asleep during the MacBook Air keynote the other day?

I don't think he was, but it seems you may have been. Which part of OS X becoming more like iOS did you not grasp there? Or how about Java support deprecation? Apple, very sadly, is moving into an almost exclusively consumer device space and part of their strategy appears to be tighter control of their products.

So to re-iterate, Apple's focus is not on PCs, but rather on consumer iDevices and you can see that in the new version of OS X.

 

[cosmos]

Wow

So much for Apple stating that they were making a real move into the Enterprise - NOT. If anything, they should have been developing a 2U server instead of killing off the xServe.

I guess if it is not an iPhone or iPad then they are not interested. Do they really think that customers would rather have Mac Pros hogging up valuable space in the datacenter?

No IT organization will even consider moving to Apple without a rack mounted solution. This is from experience working IT in several Fortune 100 companies.

Whatever plans they had in the enterprise datacenter are history now.

 

[kennycheng93]

Mac mini server

Mac mini server will be the next.

 

[blomma]

Been expecting this and now unfortunately this has happened.

OS/X will eventually become a consumer only platform. Even for some developers, OSX is becoming less attractive, with Java now gone and absolutely no hints to whether Oracle will pick up the slack.

I wonder how long until Apple removal access to the Terminal?

I think you are reading a little to much into this, apple has never had a strong presence in server hardware and frankly there are better alternatives these days than buying a Xserve. This is simply apple realizing were it's strength's are, namely the desktop and mobile. Java isn't gone man, last time i checked it was still on my computer.

 

[gctwnl]

I do not care about the XServe, but I do care about OS X Server and I am worried this is going to spell an end to OS X Server in the end.

 

[benedetti]

R.I.P:
Apple Computer Company.

Welcome:
Apple Gadget Company.

 

[brijazz]

Back to the Mac, hey? Yeah, right.

Xserve is not a Mac.

 

[Stella]

I think you are reading a little to much into this, apple has never had a strong presence in server hardware and frankly there are better alternatives these days than buying a Xserve. This is simply apple realizing were it's strength's are, namely the desktop and mobile. Java isn't gone man, last time i checked it was still on my computer.

I realize that Apple never had a strong presence, but did they really try that hard?

Your thinking of today, not the near future. Soon Java 7 will be out, and OSX will be left with Java 6... Java will be left to rot on OSX.

 

[Warbrain]

R.I.P:
Apple Computer Company.

Welcome:
Apple Gadget Company.

Hardly.

Guys, this is an enterprise machine. Did you ever actually buy one? Hell, did you ever see one? I have seen maybe one or two XServes in the wild. Companies just don't buy them. It makes sense from a fiscal standpoint to stop making them. The Mac Pro and Mac mini servers will do just fine. Most people just use their server for file share anyway.

So go on, cry a tear and claim that this is the beginning of the end. It's not.

 

[blomma]

I don't think he was, but it seems you may have been. Which part of OS X becoming more like iOS did you not grasp there? Or how about Java support deprecation? Apple, very sadly, is moving into an almost exclusively consumer device space and part of their strategy appears to be tighter control of their products.

So to re-iterate, Apple's focus is not on PCs, but rather on consumer iDevices and you can see that in the new version of OS X.

Right, me thinks you also are reading to much into this, how about this explanation instead. They had a product that wasn't profitable and decided to discontinue it. End of story, see how much simpler that explanation is than your convoluted conspiracy theory.

 

[nitro912gr]

I disagree with the "apple is abandoning enterprise market to focus on consumer market".

They made most of their money from consumer market and as it seems they dominate many other companies who had been leading consumer markets in the past, but this is no reason to pull off the enterprise market.
Actually I believe that now is the best time to step in deeper, because the ones who make the decisions about what to buy for a company, can be influenced from what they bought for themselves.
And if they have a nice experience from their iphones and their imacs then they will most likely feel comfortably to get some mac servers as well, to make their life easier.

Maybe they are pulling it back because they are planing to introduce something new to cover this area, maybe some real server capabilities macmini? Imagine the power and space savings from something like that.

 

[maflynn]

Can't say that I'm surprised and also that it was long over due.

Its no secret that apple's focus has largely been consumer only for years. I wonder when they'll stop developing OSX server as well.

 

[Warbrain]

I disagree with the "apple is abandoning enterprise market to focus on consumer market".

They made most of their money from consumer market and as it seems they dominate many other companies who had been leading consumer markets in the past, but this is no reason to pull off the enterprise market.
Actually I believe that now is the best time to step in deeper, because the ones who make the decisions about what to buy for a company, can be influenced from what they bought for themselves.
And if they have a nice experience from their iphones and their imacs then they will most likely feel comfortably to get some mac servers as well, to make their life easier.

That logic doesn't work for small-to-medium businesses. They don't get swayed by what they own, they get swayed by what someone sells them. And the price of an XServe can easily be much more than what someone they hire to configure their network and server would sell to them.

 

[Fraaaa]

Nooooo

I manage a bank of 20 Xserves at work, and I love them. We were waiting on a refresh to update them all as well. Telling me to replace with Mac Pros simply doesn't work - wrong form factor, no redundancy.

Boo hiss.

What if the MacPro will have LightPeak? Will this suit you or will still not manageble?

 

[Warbrain]

Right, me thinks you also are reading to much into this, how about this explanation instead. They had a product that wasn't profitable and decided to discontinue it. End of story, see how much simpler that explanation is than your convoluted conspiracy theory.

This.

An additional hard drive or a OS X Server install on a computer is cheaper than manufacturing a machine that no one bought.

 

[Smultie]

Hardly.

Guys, this is an enterprise machine. Did you ever actually buy one? Hell, did you ever see one? I have seen maybe one or two XServes in the wild. Companies just don't buy them. It makes sense from a fiscal standpoint to stop making them. The Mac Pro and Mac mini servers will do just fine. Most people just use their server for file share anyway.

So go on, cry a tear and claim that this is the beginning of the end. It's not.

Nice, someone on these forums with a common sense.

+1

 

[jouster]

Well.... it shows that computers isn't Apple's priority.

I don't think it shows that at all. I just think it shows that this particular computer was not making Apple any money. I'm a little surprised it held on as long as it did.

I'm also surprised at the 75 negative to ONE positive vote on the front page. I mean, were people here so invested in the idea of an Apple rack server? Are they mad they won't have chance to buy one now? Are they aware of big enterprises who are concerned about their existing 10,000-strong XSever farms' futures?

C'mon. The XServe was a niche product even by Apple's standards. And its passing will have no effect on iMacs or Airs or Pros.

 

[ahmadof]

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Slightly off topic, but not really. I bought a mac pro and set it up with sl server. I thought it was the same as buying an Xserve without the server form factor. The one day , power goes out and I find only the Xserve has lights out management (LOM) , pretty much a must for a server I would think. What is everyone who runs a mini or pro doing to get around this? I know you can get an UPS, set to wake After power failure, etc. But it's not really the same is it?

 

[617arg]

I'm thinking we're getting an announcement in January about the new server farm and the availability of the new product/service will begin February 1 (Xserve ends January 31).

This server farm might be a business orientated project. Companies will no longer need to have servers themselves but can use Apple's farm. This means no more maintenance, updating, etc. and not needing to run a big server yourself it will reduce energy consumption and free up some work space.
The way I sometimes see it is that in a few decades people who have a 'desk job' will no longer need to go to work but will be doing everything at home using the internet. This eliminates the need for big office buildings, reduce traffic during rush hour, etc. Employees will be able to take their kids to school themselves, they won't waste hours sitting in a car, they won't need to spend money on fuel for driving it to work and back again, they get a computer and a cellphone from work and off they go. They will be working at home. Some people I know are clearly getting into this pattern at work. Ad Facetime or Skype to it and you can have meetings etc. on the computer.

Just a thought but I think it could do allot of good.

That might do for some home users but I can't think of many businesses that would want to trust their data to a third party server farm.

 

[314631]

Maybe they are pulling it back because they are planing to introduce something new to cover this area, maybe some real server capabilities macmini? Imagine the power and space savings from something like that.

I doubt it. Apple's server solutions are a joke. End of story. Nobody in their right mind is going to buy into Apple's offerings when there are much more cost-effective, better maintained, frequently updated hardware and software solutions in the market. My only surprise is Apple kept the Xserve going for so long.

As for Mac Mini Server that will probably be eliminated next along with the server versions of OS X. There's nothing very compelling about what Apple offers here. So I say good riddance.

Does all this mean the death of the Mac as we know it? No. They are very different animals competing in very different markets.