Got a tip for us?
Let us know
Become a MacRumors Supporter for $50/year with no ads, ability to filter front page stories, and private forums.
Apple Discontinues Xserve, Only Available Until January 31st
- Thread starter MacRumors
- Start date
- Sort by reaction score
By Subnet. Plug in the machine and turn it on. In our Casper JSS we have a smart group for building by Subnet. Every 15 minutes Casper runs a heartbeat on the network. When it detects new machines it adds them to the smart group. Thats one way or you can you a prestage. Lets say you have 15 machines coming in and you know what building they are going in. You add them to prestage and when the machine are turned on Casper sends them a Quick Add package and Netboots them.
The best part of Zero Touch imaging is once a machine is deployed and imaged the first time, it can be reimaged at a mouse click without any interaction at all.
Never bought one but I was at a school who had them, they looked so sweet and so clean next to other equipment. But that about the only time I saw them.
Friend of mine worked at the IT department in the school. Not sure if they even use them any more.
Corp. don't like the whole "one more thing" Apple likes to push. They like to know ahead of time what is going on and that its not a toy or hobby.
Apple could have done much more but that is not where Steve wants to take the company.
No enterprise is going to choose apple, apple just drop support on a whim without any proper roadmap/backup plan. No, MacPro is not a substitute for XServe.
Enterprise want to see long term options, they can't just drop JVM by line in a support document without any alternate option. So much for Banks adopting iPhone/iPad platform, I guess after today's announcements, they will scale back for sure.
Enterprise want to see long term options, they can't just drop JVM by line in a support document without any alternate option. So much for Banks adopting iPhone/iPad platform, I guess after today's announcements, they will scale back for sure.
I am at a small business that runs OS X Server. We have business Fios 35/35 service and there is no way I would trust Verizon to always be up so I can connect to a server in the cloud.
It is rare, but we have had FIOS outages for a day or two here and there. I for one do not want to have to explain to my boss why nobody can work.
I agree security is a huge concern, but bigger issue for us would be reliability.
Btw, I have OS X Server running on a Mac Pro, but we are a very small business. I am saddened by the xserve's demise and worried about the future of OS X Server in general.
Nothing says they are not internally going to continue to use something like this, but selling it is difference. I don't think Apple want to waste time selling the hardware, and that makes some sense. Buy our service and we will run the servers for you may be their future model. Apple may be as other have commented going the way of cloud computing and thought there are security issues time will tell how many small and medium companies over the next 5 years move their IT in that directions.
I am more interested in the hooks they are using to do that, at that point there aren't any accounts there to manage the machine (outside of system accounts). So what hooks are they using to push that package and run it?
Last edited:
Perhaps osx server will be able to run on any intel based machine in the future.
Argument: It's already available for VirtualMachines, so, it's just 1 more step essentially.
Argument: It's already available for VirtualMachines, so, it's just 1 more step essentially.
If I had to venture a guess, it is probably using Wake-on-LAN to turn the machine on and then netboot'ing back to the Casper server. If it is using Wake-on-LAN, which I don't know of any other way it would be possible without pressing the power button, it is a bit of a calculated security risk you would need to consider.
No way man, this time it totally is the end of Apple. They're going down. Just like they did when they brought out the iPod, or renamed the iBook and PowerBook, or when... (insert other BS reference here).
(yes, that was all sarcasm)While I loved the design of the XServe this move by Apple totally makes sense. They never had a very strong hold on the enterprise market even in their prime, and now with the iPad and iPhone breaking ground in the enterprise market, I believe Apple is working on that more. Most people here have probably never touched an XServe, much less seen one.
cloud computing is cool.... for some things. But do people really not understand that for some things it is not feasible and some things may not even be legally allowed? And cloud computing solutions have to run on some kind of server too. We currently only have a 10Mb/s internet connection which is being upgraded to 30Mb/s very soon, but it is common for the traffic to a single server here to run around 500Mb/s. I would need at least a 10Gb/s connection to off load my server needs to the cloud. I will not have an internet connection that fast anytime soon. Outsourcing servers will not work here anytime in the foreseeable future.
James.
James.
Well, in their situation, the machine is on.
I am speaking about the initiation of netboot without an admin account. Nums Nums said Casper is finding new machines machines and pushing (a payload free I am guessing) package to initiate netboot. Which is all fine, but the problem is what administrator hooks they are using to do it.
As an admin, I can easily initiate netboot remotely, but I don't know of a way to do that on a vanilla install from Apple.
Just a thought...
Maybe Apple is working on a new form factor for the upcoming Mac Pro line of desktops. They seem to be all about sleek and thin these days. Maybe we will see a thin desktop that you could buy some Apple made brackets to the sides to fit into a 1U rack. This could serve both markets by simply loading OS X or Server at purchase as an option.
Maybe Apple is working on a new form factor for the upcoming Mac Pro line of desktops. They seem to be all about sleek and thin these days. Maybe we will see a thin desktop that you could buy some Apple made brackets to the sides to fit into a 1U rack. This could serve both markets by simply loading OS X or Server at purchase as an option.
My employer is actually precluded from using third-party cloud-based computing due to privacy laws. Sure, it might work in the consumer world, but I am guessing most major corporations likely exclude information from being hosted on third-party hosted servers, if not specifically due to the law, then simply due to security of trade secrets. I doubt you will ever see the Colonel's Original Recipe on a cloud-based server.
No way man, this time it totally is the end of Apple. They're going down. Just like they did when they brought out the iPod, or renamed the iBook and PowerBook, or when... (insert other BS reference here).
While I loved the design of the XServe this move by Apple totally makes sense. They never had a very strong hold on the enterprise market even in their prime, and now with the iPad and iPhone breaking ground in the enterprise market, I believe Apple is working on that more. Most people here have probably never touched an XServe, much less seen one.
I am not saying anything like "this is the end of Apple", I know better. What I am saying is that this is the end of myself and anyone like me considering any Apple product at the enterprise level. They just proved to the whole world that they are not trust worthy. This is far more reaching then just the server line.
James.
Good decision. All these "pro" products (hardware and software) just cost Apple top much for support, etc. and hardly anyone uses them so it's just not worth the effort. Apple doesn't have billion of $ in the bank account because they released "pro" products but because they release prouducts that everone uses and not just a few.
I agree, its not end of Apple, they will continue to come up with unique consumer devices and create niche market. But this news, along with Java deprecation pretty much kills any enterprise adoption for their latest/greatest gadgets.
I actually emailed Steve Jobs to ask him specifically what you postulate; moreover, I inquired if it possible that the next iteration of the Mac Pro Server would allow an option for redundant PSUs and hot-swappable disk/memory/etc. I doubt I will get a response, but I am guessing that this might be a real possibility ... perhaps not at 1U but at least at 2U. I could justify 2U to my employer.
It really scares me that so many people in this thread is so narrow minded
"i have not seen any xserves in the wild, so no one have bought them"
"i only need a MBA, therefore no one else need an Xserve or Mac Pro"
And so on and so on, guess what? Just because YOU dont use something doesnt mean that others doesnt either.
"i have not seen any xserves in the wild, so no one have bought them"
"i only need a MBA, therefore no one else need an Xserve or Mac Pro"
And so on and so on, guess what? Just because YOU dont use something doesnt mean that others doesnt either.
^^^^ Everyone having a cow over this should take this to heart. ^^^^
xserves just weren't competative servers.
Incorrect. Many companies buy them and use them in the wild. Mine did, and theyre awesome pieces of equipment.
Except that it *is* the end of the line for rack-mounted enterprise-grade hardware from Apple that is designed for 24x7x365 service. A MacPro is not designed for that task. Certainly a mini is not.