Apple don't make anything suitable (both hardware and software) for what they will be doing in their datacentre... i very much doubt they even use Mac OS X Server and the Xserve right now... wouldn't scale to the level of iTunes and the store I shouldnt think.
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Apple Releases New 'Server' Configuration of Mac Pro to Replace Xserve
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Apple don't make anything suitable (both hardware and software) for what they will be doing in their datacentre... i very much doubt they even use Mac OS X Server and the Xserve right now... wouldn't scale to the level of iTunes and the store I shouldnt think.
Things like redundant PSU and hot swappable drives are mandatory for most enterprise class environments. And in some environments they (application owners or server owners) are charged by the rack space they consume. So this is a very big deal.
For those who don't use/manage servers I'll give you an example maybe you would understand better. Say Apple decided not to sell MacBook/MBP anymore and announce a new iMac configuration as it's replacement.
Hopefully this is just a side-step and shortly Apple announces a partnership or licensing deal with VMWare which allows Mac OS X Server to run in their "Data Center" products environment.
For those who don't use/manage servers I'll give you an example maybe you would understand better. Say Apple decided not to sell MacBook/MBP anymore and announce a new iMac configuration as it's replacement.
Hopefully this is just a side-step and shortly Apple announces a partnership or licensing deal with VMWare which allows Mac OS X Server to run in their "Data Center" products environment.
It's kind of early to say for sure what Apple's plans are, though. A recent rumor suggested a big overhaul is coming for Final Cut Pro though, which tells me they're not interested in exiting that field at all. This may just be a way for Apple to buy some time while they develop a replacement rack-mountable setup. The Mac Pro case hasn't been redesigned in YEARS, so the next revision might be set up to be more appropriate to flip on its side, remove detachable "handles" on top and bottom, and place in a rack?[/QUOTE]
I wish that was the case but as others have said, you don't bail on the enterprise sector and come back a few months later with a replacement. Anyone who isn't canceling their XServe order now must have no alternative. It's a hard pill to swallow. Apple gets a sector dependent on their software that requires hardware to do the heavy lifting then pulls the hardware without announcing a realistic replacement. Wow. Either their accountants said don't worry the numbers aren't significant or something is messed up.
I wish that was the case but as others have said, you don't bail on the enterprise sector and come back a few months later with a replacement. Anyone who isn't canceling their XServe order now must have no alternative. It's a hard pill to swallow. Apple gets a sector dependent on their software that requires hardware to do the heavy lifting then pulls the hardware without announcing a realistic replacement. Wow. Either their accountants said don't worry the numbers aren't significant or something is messed up.
Even small businesses will likely stay away. I run a small office (about 5 people) and while I don't need a rack mounted solution, I would really hesitate buying a server without hot swap drive bays.
Not cool. a mac pro doesn't have what a xServe has. I'm a JEE developer and my companies applications is hosted on leased "rack" space.
I lose hot swappable hard drives, redundancy. Good news is that I don't see replacing it in the near future.
That is one good thing about macs, they last long. I still program on my Mac Pro from 2005 and it's as fast, if not faster, then it was in day one. That's because hardware is awesome and the OS upgrades actually upgrades the OS, not mess it up ... ugggg vista.
My first job after college made my use windows. No dell could last over 2 years without need to be re-imaged or just replaced.
OK, back to my EJB.
I lose hot swappable hard drives, redundancy. Good news is that I don't see replacing it in the near future.
That is one good thing about macs, they last long. I still program on my Mac Pro from 2005 and it's as fast, if not faster, then it was in day one. That's because hardware is awesome and the OS upgrades actually upgrades the OS, not mess it up ... ugggg vista.
My first job after college made my use windows. No dell could last over 2 years without need to be re-imaged or just replaced.
OK, back to my EJB.
Did not sell well
I have never seen the point of the XServe. As a Software contractor no company I have worked for runs OSX on production or test servers. Companies deploy on some flavour of Linux or Unix.
The Mac Pro's are powerful enough for people who want a server at home.
I have never seen the point of the XServe. As a Software contractor no company I have worked for runs OSX on production or test servers. Companies deploy on some flavour of Linux or Unix.
The Mac Pro's are powerful enough for people who want a server at home.
This thing will never make it to many datacenters.
Despite the fact that YOU CAN RACKMOUNT A MAC PRO, its too big, takes up space and is NOT designed to work as a server.
In addition, what kind of DC uses high-power graphics cards like that?! They could have knocked off a few hundred on the price by sticking a cheaper card in there, or providing the option to have no card full stop. Same goes for the optical drive.
BTW: Those who said you CANT rackmount it, please bookmark Google.com. http://www.hhb.co.uk/hhb/uk/products/detail.asp?ID=2822
Despite the fact that YOU CAN RACKMOUNT A MAC PRO, its too big, takes up space and is NOT designed to work as a server.
In addition, what kind of DC uses high-power graphics cards like that?! They could have knocked off a few hundred on the price by sticking a cheaper card in there, or providing the option to have no card full stop. Same goes for the optical drive.
BTW: Those who said you CANT rackmount it, please bookmark Google.com. http://www.hhb.co.uk/hhb/uk/products/detail.asp?ID=2822
Of course they are. Just because they "recycled" the Mac Pro as an Xserve replacement doesn't mean that OS X Server is going to stay around for that much longer. Without real server hardware, you just don't need a server operating system.
In the next step, they will phase out OS X server and the Mac Pro. And you won't be needing them. Their new data center in North Carolina will be offering all the "cloud computing" services you will need in Apple land.
I ran OSX (non-server) in vmware for a period of time, prior to building out a full die the wool hackintosh. All I can say is that performance was rather poor. vmware will need to dedicate more resources to develop better drivers and apple needs to be a little more willing to virtualize OSX.
I guess you are thinking of those Dell PowerEdge 310 with C2D, the real powerhouse servers are as expensive as always.
We are pretty lucky here in Sweden, almost everyone have access to 100/100 for about 20 dollar/month and it is unlimited use, even unlimited dataplans for phones is dirtcheap, so here a cloud could actually work but i really feel sorry for alot of USA and Canadian users that still cant get a faster broadband than 5mbit for about 60usd/month, and unlimited dataplans is incredible expensive so it would cost a fortune for those people to sync to any cloud, and yes there is alot of data that need to be uploaded and downloaded if they push for alot more cloud services.
Yeah, no need to go to the gym if the harddrives in the bottom one needs to be replaced
Yeah, no need to go to the gym if the harddrives in the bottom one needs to be replaced
Apple will be phasing out hard drives and all local storage next year. What do you think that $1billion data center's for!
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I bet that Apple need all the Xserver supply to populate it's datacenter
I bet that Apple need all the Xserver supply to populate it's datacenter
Features like hotswappable and redundant power supplies are nice buzzwords to satisfy CIOs but in practice, they only add to the cost of the machine and are not 100% guaranteed to work.
You should have all of your important data and configuration on a SAN rather than storing it on the server which is backed up often. Storing anything other than applications on a server is lunacy.
Redundant power supplies do provide some chance of no service interruption but you really should have failover servers in place to take over the load when one server goes down rather than relying on redundant systems within a server.
If you are storing your critical information on the server then you are an idiot. Any significant hardware failure should mean that you take the box down, remove it from the server room and repair it. Repairing it in the rack is not practical even if things are "hotswap".
That said, Apple should reconsider offering an X-serve in the future. It is possible that they may bring back the line when lightpeak comes out.
You should have all of your important data and configuration on a SAN rather than storing it on the server which is backed up often. Storing anything other than applications on a server is lunacy.
Redundant power supplies do provide some chance of no service interruption but you really should have failover servers in place to take over the load when one server goes down rather than relying on redundant systems within a server.
If you are storing your critical information on the server then you are an idiot. Any significant hardware failure should mean that you take the box down, remove it from the server room and repair it. Repairing it in the rack is not practical even if things are "hotswap".
That said, Apple should reconsider offering an X-serve in the future. It is possible that they may bring back the line when lightpeak comes out.
Excuse me for being harsh but why do you feel the need to be captain obvious and writing a 101 server guide? I am pretty sure everyone knows what you just said, except for the wannabe kids in here that thinks they are cool talking about servers even though they have never used anything close to an enterprice device.
Also, dont forget that there is alot of content that should never ever touch a SAN and SHOULD be stored directly on a server, for instance, you are and idiot if you would use a SAN to store your memcache setup.
we have a few EMC SAN's where i work. they are just big boxes with a small linux server inside along with hard drive bays. the hard drives are your regular seagates that are EMC branded and cost ridiculous amounts of money. they are so expensive that you store only the most critical data on them since you need 2-5 times the amount of raw storage to usable storage.
and there is a lot of software replication out now where it's a lot cheaper to set up a few servers and replicate the data using software
hot swappable drives always work
Funny Surprise
Apple is a Mobile Devices company. XServe is not mobile nor is it a device. Apple caters to small businesses, the Mac Pro and Mac Mini are more then enough for those customers.
- Bruce
Apple is a Mobile Devices company. XServe is not mobile nor is it a device. Apple caters to small businesses, the Mac Pro and Mac Mini are more then enough for those customers.
- Bruce