Apple Discontinues Xserve, Only Available Until January 31st

womble2k2 said:
Sad to see it go, I think it would have had a future if Apple had sufficient resources, but as others have pointed out, they are more focused on the consumer space at the moment.
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Apple HAS sufficient resources. They're the second biggest company in the world and sat on huge cash resources yet they spend almost nothing on R&D. For the last few years Mac OSX has suffered because of resources that it had being diverted to iOS.

I've visions of Jobs sat on a big pile of gold like Uncle Scrooge McDuck refusing to spend on decent software engineering resources.

Killing off the server line is going to have serious ramifications for professional Mac users. Surely with the XServe gone, OSX Server's future is in serious doubt.
 
johnalan said:
you know I'm not in some kinda panic but it does concern me, I really love using OS X (in it's current incarnation) and I love my iOS devices (gadgets),

I have a 2010 MacBook Pro (high end spec) a 24inch Cinema Display, an iPhone 4 and a new Time Capsule, I love how they all work together, I develop iPhone apps as a hobby aswell, I really enjoy the ecosphere that's created by Apple and the interoperability between say my iPhone and iTunes is seamless and very nice to use. I love my cinema display even though it only works with my macbook pro and not my girlfriends laptop,

I am willing to put up with the inconvenience of this resonably closed system (ie display only working with macbooks and mac pros, and iphone only working with itunes) for the benefit of seamless integration of the Apple products I own and how slickly the likes of Apples remote app works with iTunes everything feels like it works together perfectly rather than hobbled together like standard PC's,

However as a developer and a bit of a tech nerd I love the fact that under this glossy GUI/exterior I have access to FULL UNIX, I love the fact that I can crack open the Terminal app for example and have the power of full unrestricted UNIX, so if I need to for development or whatever I can leave the beauty of OS X's GUI behind and get my hands dirty and change and access any part of the system or filesytem under the hood. I love being able to go in as root and be a full administrator on my UNIX/OSX machine because I know what I'm doing.

I don't mind not being able to do this on my iPhone because it is a handy gadget not a workstation.

It would ruin the Mac experience for me if they gimped the OS and removed this ability to muck around say in terminal because for me the beautiful GUI is a plus and the ability to have a full UNIX terminal access is an essential.

I have invested alot of money in Apple at this stage and I feel somewhat concerned about what's down the tracks. I know you can say don't upgrade but for me upgrading to new OS's in essential.

I know no one here can predict the future but could a few of the old timers maybe give me their opinion on this, I don't mind Lion or the next OS being more consumer focused infact I enjoy it, I even like the lauchpad thing, but do you think on this Desktop OS they will always at least keep the ability to access things like the terminal?? and if required be able to leave the gloss behind and get your hands dirty, or do you think they are trying to move OSX to become a Gadget like OS akin nearly to XBOX OS or iOS,


Long rant I know, but I just want to get some opinions, I've been ignoring signs so far but this dropping of the Server hardware worrys me,

Regards,
John
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What do you need to do in Terminal? Explain.
 
Chupa Chupa said:
Anyone ever consider Apple axed the XServe b/c cost to continue developing and selling wasn't worth the benefit made in profit? XServe is a pinpoint on Apple's P&L statement. No need to read tea leaves here. XServe was killed because it's not a money maker.
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But that is a very narrow-minded, and well, just plain incorrect business analysis. There are a lot of knock-on effects that help Apple make money even without necessarily making money on the xserves. The XServes allow companies to roll out macs that would be harder, though certainly not impossible, to roll out with Windows or Linux. Having computers at work makes people feel more familiar with them and are more likely to buy them for their home(this is part of the reason Microsoft became so popular, they really pushed into the business market)

Apple is really myopic if they think this is going to make them money. If anything it is going to send a lot of customers, myself included, running to the door as quickly as possible because I now have 0 faith in the future of the mac platform.

Why should I invest any more money or time in a platform that Apple will kill on a whim. If Apple is going to start killing platforms with less than 3 months notice I don't want to risk my reputation with my customers on Apple.

If they want to be a gadget company, fine, be a gadget company. But beware, you are alienating a lot of your biggest evangelists and consumer tastes are fickle. Don't be surprised if consumers alienate the iOS platform and don't cry when you have nobody to turn to.

AAPL will be bankrupt before the end of the decade.
 
H0M3R said:
Maybe Apple is abandoning the Xserves because 10.7 Server will run on non-Apple servers? Virtual servers seem to be the thing these days and being able to add an OS X server as a VM would go farther than having to get all the necessary approval to purchase a server from a company that is probably not on an approved list of hardware vendors.
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Possibly...
I have heard many IT departments who would love to use OS X Server in an ESX environment...

But why discontinue the Xserve as early as January? OS X Lion is expected at least 6 months later.
 
rmwebs said:
Apple wont be running OS X on their new servers. They will be running Linux - just like Microsoft do.

OS X = Built for DESKTOP/USER use (quick & dirty patch = OS X Server)
Linux = Built for SERVER use (quick & dirty patch = desktop/user os)

Linux does have its uses, and its in servers where it shines.
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You do know that Linux and OSX are both from UNIX?

OSX core is BSD Unix.

OSX and Linux just have different front end. And that is what is genius with OSX. Apple took a 50 year stable/secure OS and put their front end on i. Microsoft should do the same.

In large companies we like to have "brand" computers. We want to have hardware and software support on mission critical servers. That is why Linux have not replaced HPUX/Solaris/IBM/Tandem and so on.

If I have a hardware problem with my Sun server, I can call them and they have to get me a replacement part within 4 hours. If I find a software bug, they have to fix it. I cant have these demands on Linux, even if Linux software support often is better then big companies.

OSX server is great to manage. I dont need to use hardcore terminal prompt. Many *nix administrators feels like it is cheating when you use a GUI. I just want something that works and are easy to manage. Xserve was that.
 
To be fair, the Xserves didn't really compete in the enterprise market. The companies that were using a Windows rack were going to keep using a Windows rack; the companies with Linux were going to keep using Linux.

Apple neither competed nor tried to compete. Hell, they didn't even stick an Xserve in their retail stores. Lack of marketing and lack of incentive. The price is outrageous for hardware from 2009.
 
Stella said:
I hope this is a serious question...
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It's extremely serious. You must have no idea how many people brandish this same nonsense about their "need" for command line, yet ive yet to see anyone on this site explain what they "need" it for.

I know what it's for, and I know what I use it for, but that doesn't mean anyone else HERE does. Most of the people here are completely clueless.
 
foidulus said:
But that is a very narrow-minded, and well, just plain incorrect business analysis. There are a lot of knock-on effects that help Apple make money even without necessarily making money on the xserves. The XServes allow companies to roll out macs that would be harder, though certainly not impossible, to roll out with Windows or Linux. Having computers at work makes people feel more familiar with them and are more likely to buy them for their home(this is part of the reason Microsoft became so popular, they really pushed into the business market)

Apple is really myopic if they think this is going to make them money. If anything it is going to send a lot of customers, myself included, running to the door as quickly as possible because I now have 0 faith in the future of the mac platform.

Why should I invest any more money or time in a platform that Apple will kill on a whim. If Apple is going to start killing platforms with less than 3 months notice I don't want to risk my reputation with my customers on Apple.

If they want to be a gadget company, fine, be a gadget company. But beware, you are alienating a lot of your biggest evangelists and consumer tastes are fickle. Don't be surprised if consumers alienate the iOS platform and don't cry when you have nobody to turn to.

AAPL will be bankrupt before the end of the decade.
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What are you smoking? Seriously, just stop. Did you personally own an Xserve? Were you about to put in an Xserve installation somewhere?

Come on...
 
Now it is time, to discontinue the Mac Pro, since it is the most upgradeable Mac, that Apple is (still) making. Steve Jobs visions are to be fullfilled.
 
foidulus said:
Well Apple is seriously trying to kill itself, isn't it?

I would sell AAPL as fast as humanly possible, Steve thinks they are going to be a consumer device company and has 0 loyalty to the people that helped Apple get here.

Where I work we have probably spent well north of $1 million on Apple stuff, and this is the final straw, we are moving everything to Windows. Apple will not see another penny from us.

And since I no longer will be using a mac to do my work, I see no need to continue to use a mac for other stuff either. I see no reason to keep my iPad when there are plenty of good Android tablets coming, I see no reason to continue to use an iPhone if there are good android devices out there. I don't need to integrate with any Apple products anymore because Apple said they aren't interested in the "pro" market.

Just a warning though Apple, not too long ago there was this company called Sony that was like you are now, the absolute dominant player in the portable entertainment market. But now look at them, they are a shadow of their former selves. However, Sony had a lot of other businesses to fall back on when times got tough, the rate you are going you are going to turn your back on those same industries. However consumers are a fickle bunch and they will eventually turn their back on you and you, unlike Sony, will have nothing to fall back on.

Farewell, I look forward to hearing your bankruptcy proceedings in a few years.
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1 million is pretty small..;)
 
Interesting but not too surprising considering Apple does stuff like this from time to time, like they said they arent a perfect company but never know what they might come up with.
Perhaps something to do with instead of end users buying them they will be providing the colocation of their servers at a datacenter for users to purchase space from? Doubt it but who knows.

I dont think Apple is trying to limit any form of software or plugins/addons, I'm no developer but does iOS devices/apps use JAVA as well? mayber theyre bridging the same concept to the Mac in that sense and making it not so much closed but more of an efficient ecosystem of their products and software.
IDK makes sense if thats the case...it could be time for something alittle different but again Im no developer so what do i know :eek:

The more and more people become mobile and huge hardware becomes not necessarily obsolete but inefficient for consumers then yeah I see smaller form factor data distributing devices suc as the mini server are excellent choices and apple has never seemingly been in the big business market; rather always brought that concept to regular folks.
 
pmz said:
It's extremely serious. You must have no idea how many people brandish this same nonsense about their "need" for command line, yet ive yet to see anyone on this site explain what they "need" it for.

I know what it's for, and I know what I use it for, but that doesn't mean anyone else HERE does. Most of the people here are completely clueless.
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Ah, ok, I see your line of questioning...

This got me thinking:

With OSX becoming increasingly consumer based, Apple have no need for UNIX certification, also, Apple's target market has no need for Shell access so may as well just rip out the Terminal.app.

I wouldn't be surprised to see Terminal.app being removed after 10.7. Surely X11 is the next item to be discontinued.
 
The age of dedicated 'iron' is over. We had 21 separate servers, only 3 are left. The rest has been virtualised on the VMware/VSphere platform. As end-users don't use the OS on a server, this only matters to those who have to maintain and administrate it. Perhaps there lies a part of this decision
 
An Xserve Admin

As an Xserve Admin, I'm very saddened by this news and hope that there will be a replacement product or announcement to continue OS X Server as a viable platform.

I don't recall seeing any news of a VMWare/Apple partnership, so let's hope there is a newer exciting product that Apple is developing.
 
Aha

I suspect a new line of ARM-based servers are on the way.

128 ARM cores in a 1U enclosure sir? Yes please!
 
This makes perfect sense.

I have spent 15 years in IT, and never once, not even when my shop was entirely Mac, did we try to implement Mac servers. The support for enterprise just isn't there. Windows and Linux servers allow connectivity from the Mac user just fine.

Secondly, the future will see a significant push towards private cloud environments with virtualization leading the way. Companies will pay colo and hosting facilities for dynamic VM environments which will reduce their overhead from a power/real estate/staffing perspective and will allow them to be as agile as their business requires them. Apple's server offerings would never fit this mix. Let them focus on amazing desktop offerings, and the mobile space, and leave the server mix to those platforms that embrace the SaaS methodology that everyone will be moving to post haste.
 
sad day

And in one quick, foolish move, Apple cedes the entire enterprise market. I don't know if they realize this or not, but their credibility as a technology company just fell significantly. I don't know if I can ever take them seriously again. This is truly disappointing.
 
Phil A. said:
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.
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Yea its not much point in Apple wasting resources on a battle they will never make much progress on.
 
pmz said:
What do you need to do in Terminal? Explain.
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I can't speak for the original poster, but I'm a sysadmin responsible for a megabunch of servers of all flavors, including Xserves. I always have a half-dozen terminal windows open on my desktop. If you run more than one computer, you'll soon find a need for all that crunchy Unix goodness hiding under the MacOS X colorful candy shell.

As for the death of Xserves, it's about bloody time. Servers are commodity items. That's not a market in which Apple can successfully compete.
 
wizard said:
The problem is pretty simple if you are going to sell a 1U server it needs either a low price or compelling performance. XServe had neither. The other problem is that being in the server business means having a line of suitable hardware. Again Apple has nothing but an overpriced 1U server.

What is really bothersome is that apparently Apple never tried to build business class hardware nor market such properly. At the very least they should have had one set up in every store.
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Truer words have never been spoken so early in a thread.

I always dreamed of owning a few Xserves and an Xserve RAID long ago, but as I grew in my career and knowledge of computers and technology I realized that neither of them were truly the best bang for the buck.

I wonder if this means that Apple will also have no need to market the Promise Vtrak RAID solutions, and just keep to the smaller NAS drives and a Mac Mini as a server option.

Tech nerds called it first back in 2006, Apple is throwing itself out of the enterprise market and focusing on SMB and home office/studios. Not a bad thing at all until either of them want to grow beyond the use of a Mini, and need a rack mount solution.
 
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