Sonnet Announces Mac Pro 4U Rackmount Enclosure and Expansion Chassis

[Digital Skunk]

Currently working on another product for rack mounting the new Mac Pro. Launching a Kickstarter in a week or so. Check it out: modemount.com

Much better solution if you ask me. Make one that helps mount the astonishing amount of peripherals that may be needed and it's a go!

 

[MagnusVonMagnum]

someone rack mounted a DeLorean?

I don't know about the car, but the plutonium suitcase presents some alternate possibilities for a large rack mount that keeps things vertical and wastes less space (obviously you couldn't fit that many in a standard rack, but a custom rack might be nifty for certain farming applications). It would need some creative handling of the connections as well.

 

[rei101]

Currently working on another product for rack mounting the new Mac Pro. Launching a Kickstarter in a week or so. Check it out: modemount.com

Very nice! and very impractical when running the cables but looks nice.

 

[everything-i]

? You can add GPU's to a server. Oh, as someone who works on servers, you're wrong. You build the server based on your needs for whatever purpose it has. Servers are not just designed for IO.



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Holy crap are those g4's? Maybe even g2's. You have some upgrading to do man. You do realize they are up to G8's now right?

I didn't say you can't do this, I said its not a stock option and as you point out you have to add the GPU cards yourself. My point is that MacPro is an off the shelf fully supported, specialised and optimised configuration that is guaranteed to work as advertised. That guarantee is worth a lot to commercial users. Servers are designed primarily for IO, what we are talking about is adapting that to be a rack mounted workstation which is not going to be a designed for purpose, fully supported, solution in the same way that a MacPro is. It may be just as good but no one is guaranteeing it will be is my point.

 

[Tnsquint]

Really Sonnet? Were customers really asking for this?

I have been a lurker here for a while but after seeing this, I felt I should take a moment to post.

First off, I have been a MAC user since the late 80's. I work in live entertainment and we use a lot of MAC's in every iteration to perform a lot of functions for live events. We use them to record, we use them to playback audio and video, they present those stellar images you see on giant video walls behind and above stages, we use them to create the stellar graphic images you see on giant video walls behind and above stages, we use them for virtual reality programming not to mention all the laptops and other computers we use for day to day design and operations.

Many of us have been patiently waiting for Apple to produce a new tower that had significantly improved specifications to make it worth the investment in hardware. When the new MAC PROs came out, the very first thing many of us thought was "how in the world are we going to put this in a rack?!" We are not talking about server racks that are placed in some uber air conditioned room on top of a computer floor. Instead we are talking about shock mounted road cases that are packed up every night at midnight, transferred by big burly stage hands, schlepped up with forklifts into the back of semi trailers, slammed in tight along with 70,000 pounds of other gear, trekked across interstates at 70mph whether it is 105 or minus 20 degrees outside, only to be offloaded at 8:00am the following morning by another set of burly stage hands, deployed in position and expected to work with no more than pulling off case lids and plugging the thing in.

In a word; YES we absolutely need something like this.

 

[hollyhillbilly]

I have been a lurker here for a while but after seeing this, I felt I should take a moment to post.

First off, I have been a MAC user since the late 80's. I work in live entertainment and we use a lot of MAC's in every iteration to perform a lot of functions for live events. We use them to record, we use them to playback audio and video, they present those stellar images you see on giant video walls behind and above stages, we use them to create the stellar graphic images you see on giant video walls behind and above stages, we use them for virtual reality programming not to mention all the laptops and other computers we use for day to day design and operations.

Many of us have been patiently waiting for Apple to produce a new tower that had significantly improved specifications to make it worth the investment in hardware. When the new MAC PROs came out, the very first thing many of us thought was "how in the world are we going to put this in a rack?!" We are not talking about server racks that are placed in some uber air conditioned room on top of a computer floor. Instead we are talking about shock mounted road cases that are packed up every night at midnight, transferred by big burly stage hands, schlepped up with forklifts into the back of semi trailers, slammed in tight along with 70,000 pounds of other gear, trekked across interstates at 70mph whether it is 105 or minus 20 degrees outside, only to be offloaded at 8:00am the following morning by another set of burly stage hands, deployed in position and expected to work with no more than pulling off case lids and plugging the thing in.

In a word; YES we absolutely need something like this.

I would venture to say that the nMP will be much more shock resistant and resilient to the legacy Mac Pro

 

[lh723]

Very nice! and very impractical when running the cables but looks nice.

Here's the prototype from the back. Our design solution for running cables:



And here's another rendering of two, side by side in a 4u rack.

 

[mojolicious]

I'll buy a dozen!

Are there existing locking solutions that could be applied to that central bolt?

 

[megalodon]

I have to say that I am pretty excited about this product. As an independent consultant in the AV industry, a lot of people I consult with were quite shocked by the path Apple took with the new Mac Pro. I think a lot of posters here are focused on what I like to call, "looks good in a Crate and Barrel or IKEA product magazine spread," but impractical in real world. Anyone using the nMP in real world applications realizes you have several metal boxes and a snake load of cables extending out from that shiny cylinder. It doesn't look so pretty.

In terms of this Sonnet box, it's a server rack product--you only see the front panel which is, like most server products, black or silver. With the xMac Pro Server front panel, there's a space for the Mac Pro to install into, air ventilation holes, and a space for 5.25" peripheral expansions. I get the feeling most people haven't even read what this product does, but simply base their opinions on a product shot; otherwise, one would realize that the remainder of the box houses a lot more and one couldn't add additional nMP to the chassis.

The product ADDS what Apple took away--PCIe expansion slots and add-on storage/drive bays/etc. It neatly integrates it all into a efficient rackmount solution that provides the niche market its aimed for with EXACTLY what we need. It isn't for the "iMac-iPhone-iPad-iMe-look-at-me-I'm-so-pretty crowd" that strategically organize their desk with powerful computers like a shot from Z Gallery so they can...Facebook. This is a work tool. It looks fine. All you see is a front black panel of the chassis that will slide and blend in with a rackmount system that is stored away in a server room or in a mobile cart. Anyone who works in this industry knows that pretty much sums up what a chassis of this nature looks like. It's got to be durable, well-built, functional and stand up to abuse on the road from gig to gig. In short, it is designed for the environment it will be utilized in.

Additionally, one has to consider cooling and thermal dynamics. People carrying on about what they think it should look and behave like have obviously no idea the issues of integrating the Mac Pro + a 3-slot PCIe expansion and power supply component + a expansion module for storage/LTO tape drives, etc. This product is more about just hanging a nMP inside a rack and routing some cables around.

Earlier on someone stated about Thunderbolt ports not being actively present on the back panel. From what I read one has full access to the Thunderbolt ports on the Mac Pro with a cable management system.

Can anybody point to an example where they have ever seen a Thunderbolt cable connected from the host (computer) to a panel mounted connector that replicates another female Thunderbolt port? I'm sure Sonnet would have loved to extend the other 5 Thunderbolt Ports of the Mac Pro to the front and rear panels with panel mount connectors, as they have done with USB3, Gb Ethernet, and HDMI,and also with their xMac mini Server. However, there is currently no such part (Thunderbolt Panel mount connector) available to allow this to happen. Hopefully someday one of the Thunderbolt cable manufacturers will develop such a connector, though this type of part will be substantially more complex (and expensive) given that Thunderbolt cables carry active electronics that help manage the PCIe data and video.

 

[h4ck]

yes. believe it or not, there are enterprise Apple environments (i manage one of them) and this is extremely helpful. we've replaced our old xserve with one (with thunderbolt-fibrechannel adapter for our activestorage raid array) and it's actually a pain in the ass to not have a rackable server. it sits next to the open directory replica (previous gen mac pro) on a shelf. not ideal.

we also rent co-lo space to mirror our server at an off-site datacenter, for disaster mitigation. we're currently leasing 1U space for an xserve, which also will need to be replaced. i'd rather rent 4U of space than 6-8U, if we were going to just go plug one in and stand it up.

Really Sonnet? Were customers really asking for this?

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i take it you don't know much about computers/servers?

this is hands down the most powerful and expandable apple server available.

I've got one running in my office of about 100 users. night and day difference between that and our old xserve.

or just buy a real server. it would be cheaper.

I've got one running w/ a 16TB SAN and it's incredible. using a SanLink2 adapter (thunderbolt2 - fibre channel)

it's deliciously fast, users connect instantly, a million times more stable than our old set up too.

One of these combined with virtualization software like Parallels Enterprise Edition would be really useful. Then you could setup iSCSI or Xsan and have shared VM storage across multiple servers.

Another option would be use VirtualBox paired with PHPVirtualBox so you can have web management. Other than that both pieces of software do the same things, although i find parallels more stable.

While it's definitely going to cost more than a normal 1u server, if you depend on OS X and need Xeon performance this will work fairly nicely.

I would like to see an 8u version that stacks multiple Mac Pro's vertically and has some duct work to vent the air out of the back of the case.

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we'd probably buy one of those.

Currently working on another product for rack mounting the new Mac Pro. Launching a Kickstarter in a week or so. Check it out: modemount.com

 

[pragmatous]

You don't have to add the GPU cards yourself.

you go to dell, configure the server, it gets shipped. You plug it, turn it on, and you install your programs. If you don't know how you call Dell and they show you how. Dell can even remote into your PC and do it for you. You'll have to rack the dell server like the apple thing. It's no different. You can also get tower servers too so you don't have to rack it. You can get workstation class, small form factors, and so on. it has just as much power as your mac pro for half the cost.

Again, servers are not designed for IO. A server is designed on however you need it to be designed for. That's why there are so many variations to choose from. I'm an engineer and I'm telling you that you pick a server based on your needs. There are many different types of servers. it's one of the challenges of when a customer says "I need to do this" - The engineer needs to choose the best server for the job. There's lots of technology out there beyond the small world of apple.

I'm pretty sure Dell can guarantee that their workstation class powerhouse will work just as well as your mac pro.

Again, no you don't have to add the GPU's yourself. Dell includes them in the case. All built for you just like a mac pro but significantly cheaper.

Last; it's not hard. Use one brain cell and call Dell if using a website is too hard for you to pick a standard workstation.

Seriously if you can't handle a website and knowing what hardware you need then you don't need what you're buying.

I didn't say you can't do this, I said its not a stock option and as you point out you have to add the GPU cards yourself. My point is that MacPro is an off the shelf fully supported, specialised and optimised configuration that is guaranteed to work as advertised. That guarantee is worth a lot to commercial users. Servers are designed primarily for IO, what we are talking about is adapting that to be a rack mounted workstation which is not going to be a designed for purpose, fully supported, solution in the same way that a MacPro is. It may be just as good but no one is guaranteeing it will be is my point.

 

[SPUY767]

That's a pretty cool and useful idea!

It's cool, but it isn't useful. You could buy 4 Dell 1U's for less than a Mac Pro and this mount.

 

[S.B.G]

It's cool, but it isn't useful. You could buy 4 Dell 1U's for less than a Mac Pro and this mount.

Perhaps. But for those who have a Mac Pro and a rack they wish to utilize, this would be ideal wouldn't it?

 

[SlCKB0Y]

Uh.

Six Thunderbolt 2 ports on the MacPro and these guys couldn't even expose one on this monstrosity?

That's failure, right there.

Really? You can see the back of the rack? Do you have X-ray vision?

 

[SlCKB0Y]

But servers tend to be designed for IO rather than raw processing. Off the shelf servers just don't have the CPU/GPU power that the MacPro has.

GPU, yes. CPU, no - you're talking absolute rubbish. There are plenty of "off the shelf" (whatever that means) servers which would absolutely smoke the Mac Pro in every regard except GPU.

 

[SlCKB0Y]

Or..you know...Apple could just let us IT professionals running data centers install their OS on our million dollar VMware blade server environment...just an idea?

How good are the GPUs in those blades? ohh.. that's right.
How badly will Apple ream you when they find out you're breaching their license agreements in an enterprise environment?

 

[MagnusVonMagnum]

How good are the GPUs in those blades? ohh.. that's right.
How badly will Apple ream you when they find out you're breaching their license agreements in an enterprise environment?

This is a ridiculous post.

Who CARES what the GPU is in a blade environment? That's not what those computers are being used for and so it would be a total waste of money to pay for equipment that is NOT used. --> FAIL

The poster said Apple should LET them install their OS implying getting legal license rights to do so, not implying doing it anyway without and yet they get some "ream" reply. --> FAIL

 

[everything-i]

GPU, yes. CPU, no - you're talking absolute rubbish. There are plenty of "off the shelf" (whatever that means) servers which would absolutely smoke the Mac Pro in every regard except GPU.

So they don't have the GPU power as I said

 

[FluJunkie]

This seems stupid. Why not just have multiple Mac Minis in a single 1 or 2U enclosure?

Since no one has brought this up yet - Sonnet sells something to do exactly that.

Really Sonnet? Were customers really asking for this?

Yes.

Ugly?!? What are you talking about? Who cares, it's rack mounted!

This exactly. I can't remember the last time I actually saw the computer I was using. I Do. Not. Care. what it looks like.

there are plenty of rack-mount cases out there that gave more than 15 minutes consideration to appearance. the discontinued X-Serve line is one of them. At the DC i used to work at, people would regularly ask "wow, what hardware is that?" when passing the one rack full of x-serves.

iStar, whilst not having the best quality reputation for their power supplies, makes a whole series of designer rackmount cases for workstations and recording studio use.

The Xserve is a discontinued line. It's all well and good that they were, well, pretty for rack hardware (which isn't saying much) but whatever.

It's a really bad solution as well... 4U for a single server wth.

I imagine part of the appeal is that it slots directly into where the old Mac Pro, which is also 4U, used to live.

Couldn't they at least tried and made something more beautifull, like this:

Image

There you go, store cylinders on top of others AND possibility of taking one off, if you want without them all falling apart AND space saving AND can be beautifull

...

This is a perfect example of putting form before function and thus failing hard at function.

Two questions:

- Couldn't one squeeze two Mac Pros in the same enclosure in theory (since rack space is so valuable)?

- As others mentioned, why isn't the heat exhaust on the back side like with other servers?

- The heat exhaust is on the back side.

- They put drive bays and PCI expansion stuff there instead. That's fairly useful for a lot of people.

But servers tend to be designed for IO rather than raw processing. Off the shelf servers just don't have the CPU/GPU power that the MacPro has.

The guys who maintain our cluster will be shocked to hear this.

Sort of defeats the point of having a Mac Pro does it not? You could easily build your own rig at half the price.

It won't run OS X, or it won't have good warranty support.

Sonnet's new enclosure is a dead product. I think Apple will introduce new round server racks to match their new round Mac Pro's which will match Apple's new round 'Spaceship' campus. Ad theme; "Don't Be Square". Later introductions of new round Apple products.

This could be the new Apple TV, in the round...

https://encrypted-tbn3.gstatic.com/...zc6_AlUSrzjTaObwpaISq2EZ566Ach8foRRezt-3RM3A0

Apple has shown near 0 interest in enterprise hardware.

Or..you know...Apple could just let us IT professionals running data centers install their OS on our million dollar VMware blade server environment...just an idea?

*wistful sigh*

A product designed by somebody who cant grasp onto the future.

I was bored at work and so I drafted up how many MacPros could fit in the space of 6 Sonnet Rackmounts.

Image
The top image represents 6 Sonnet Rackmounts and the bottom shows its footprint (in yellow) against the space you could fit the most amount of Mac Pros.

Hmmm, the Sonnet kinda negates the use of good space, doesn't it.

Sonnet isn't trying to pack density into their case - as people have mentioned, if that's your goal, using a Mac Pro is kind of a problem from the start. There are form factors with *staggeringly* more density to them.

What they're trying to do is have a rackable case that is as much like the old Mac Pro as possible. That is, having PCI slots, drive pays, and fit in 4U.

 

[HD303]

Place your order now. In a few months, check their web site, or, if you're lucky, you'll get an email telling you how Sonnet has decided to re-engineer the product based on reviews.

The new release date will be in 2020.

 

[SPUY767]

Perhaps. But for those who have a Mac Pro and a rack they wish to utilize, this would be ideal wouldn't it?

I just don't see a scenario where I'm shoving my Mac Pro into my 42U cabinet. Perhaps I'm not thinking far enoug outside the box.

 

[FluJunkie]

I just don't see a scenario where I'm shoving my Mac Pro into my 42U cabinet. Perhaps I'm not thinking far enoug outside the box.

I suspect the design intent is more for the 8 - 12U cases that are portable, so that you have a workstation and all your equipment on the road with you.

 

[SlCKB0Y]

So they don't have the GPU power as I said

You also claimed those servers cant compete in terms of CPU with Mac Pro which is so far from the truth its not funny. This is the point I was taking issue with in your post.

Edit: Having read your earlier post I have a better idea of the context in which you framed your comment:
https://forums.macrumors.com/posts/18933948/

 

[everything-i]

You also claimed those servers cant compete in terms of CPU with Mac Pro which is so far from the truth its not funny. This is the point I was taking issue with in your post.

Edit: Having read your earlier post I have a better idea of the context in which you framed your comment:
https://forums.macrumors.com/posts/18933948/

Yes it started off as a comment about having a made for purpose fully supported and optimised solution which software can be optimised for but unfortunately ended up as a fight about how many processors and GPU cards can be put in rack mount server box.

 

[SimeoneSergio]

Image

I am detecting large quantities of win in this post.