Sonnet's Latest Enclosures Help You Rack Mount Your Mac Studio

[MacRumors]

Professional storage and networking accessory company Sonnet Technologies today announced a pair of solutions for Mac Studio users who are looking to rack mount their machines alongside other components.

The RackMac Studio is a 3U rackmount enclosure measuring 9.5 inches deep that can support a pair of Mac Studio units while preserving access to the front ports and offering front access to a USB-A port and the power button for each machine right from the front of the enclosure. Space beneath the Mac Studio units can also be used to house small peripherals like bus-powered external SSDs. It will be priced at $449.99 and will be available starting the week of October 24.

The xMac Studio is a larger enclosure that still measures 3U high but 16.5 inches deep and which can pair a single Mac Studio with Sonnet's Thunderbolt to PCIe card expansion systems. The enclosure is available in three configurations for maximum flexibility: with either an Echo I or Echo III module or without a module in case you want to reuse an existing one. All versions also include a four-port USB-A hub fed from the Mac Studio, as well as a front-mounted power button and space underneath for small peripherals.

The Echo I module includes a single x16 PCIe slot for one full-height, full-length card, a single 40Gbps Thunderbolt port, dual fans, and a 400W power supply, while the Echo III module bumps that up to three PCIe slots (one x16 and two x8) and two Thunderbolt ports. The version without an expansion module will be priced at $549.99, while the Echo I version will be priced at $1,249.99 and the Echo III version will be priced at $1,649.99. The xMac Studio systems will begin shipping the week of September 26.

Article Link: Sonnet's Latest Enclosures Help You Rack Mount Your Mac Studio

 

[NY Guitarist]

The one with PCIe expansion definitely appeals to me for use in my video studio.

 

[Apple Knowledge Navigator]

Interesting concept. Very expensive, but I imagine the target audience have plenty of budget.

 

[macinfojunkie]

Assuming the PCI card drivers are supported in an M1 Studio config, then this is an awesome solution to get a mac pro light into a studio rack.

 

[xraydoc]

I wonder what PCI cards would be compatible with the M1.

 

[nathan_reilly]

I love Macs in studio racks

 

[dwhittington]

Pretty cool! A Mac Mini version might be popular as well.

Edit: Upon a deeper dive into their website, I see they DO make a Mac Mini model after all.

 

[mystery hill]

If you need to rack mount, it may be a good idea to wait for the Apple Silicon Mac Pro.

 

[R3k]

A lot more info on their webpage. I visited as I was interested in how they pull of the power button solution.

 

[macinfojunkie]

If you need to rack mount, it may be a good idea to wait for the Apple Silicon Mac Pro.

Is it 100% certain they will make a rackmount version?

 

[NY Guitarist]

If you need to rack mount, it may be a good idea to wait for the Apple Silicon Mac Pro.

Or not wait if you already have a Mac Studio, or can't afford a more costly new Mac Pro.

A lot more info on their webpage. I visited as I was interested in how they pull of the power button solution.

That power button solution is kind of a kludge.

I was hoping this would also provide security but it's not a lockable enclosure and is wide open in back.

 

[Michael Scrip]

That power button solution is kind of a kludge.

I thought it was clever!

 

[guzhogi]

I'd love to see a RAID array option. Have a RAID card plus however many drive bays possible, either 3.5" drives or whatever size you want to use. I'm not a videographer, but I've hung around MacRumors enough to know that 4K & 8K video takes up a boatload of room.

 

[mystery hill]

Is it 100% certain they will make a rackmount version?

No, we’ll only know for certain when they announce it. They do offer a rackmount version of the current one.

Or not wait if you already have a Mac Studio, or can't afford a more costly new Mac Pro.

Sure, that’s also a reasonable option.

 

[Starflyer]

I have used the xMac 2013 MacPro version of this with PCI expansion and currently using the Mac Mini version of this with my M1 Mini and BlackMagic Decklink Duo 2. They are rock solid. I have been holding off on getting a Studio until Sonnet made a solution for it.

 

[zorinlynx]

Has anyone been able to get GPUs working with M1 Macs via Thunderbolt to PCIe bridges?

 

[deconstruct60]

Interesting concept. Very expensive, but I imagine the target audience have plenty of budget.

Like the Mac Pro variant is going to be cheaper. A current Mac Pro rackmount 16 Core with minimal other BTO settings is $8,500. The Apple silicon version likely won't get any cheaper.

$8,500 minus the $1,700 here for the 3 slot still leaves $6,800 here for an Ultra to plug in and perhaps some extra SSD drives to slide into the rack enclosure (and skip some of the Apple SSD price mark up).

 

[deconstruct60]

Has anyone been able to get GPUs working with M1 Macs via Thunderbolt to PCIe bridges?

There are zero 3rd parth GPU drivers for macOS on M-seires. In fact, there is not even an DriverKit API for "Graphics" at all for 3rd party drivers. There is a PCI-e DriverKit API. So there are already more than several cards that work. Apple has provide not even a long term abstraction on how to get 3rd party GPUs working with Apple Silicon. It has been three WWDCs (2020 , 2021 , 2022 ) and nothing.

I would not hold my breath waiting on one. Intel's current purgatory on jacked up , immature GPU drivers is only even more evidence about why Apple probably is in zero hurry to provide one. Just getting the Apple GPU driver family smoothly flushed over a much wider breadth of performance implementations and a large set of 3rd party controlled applications fully updated on optimizations is a huge task.

 

[deconstruct60]

I'd love to see a RAID array option. Have a RAID card plus however many drive bays possible, either 3.5" drives or whatever size you want to use.

There is space on the bottom of the rack for SSDs.

https://www.sonnettech.com/product/xmac-studio/overview.html

Get SoftRaid and 2-3 SSDs and have RAID inside the box. (and still having used any slots. )

I'm not a videographer, but I've hung around MacRumors enough to know that 4K & 8K video takes up a boatload of room.

For something large ( mid-highg double digit TBs ) this device is racked. So rack a DAS right under it in the rack and connect them. Done... huge mid-line storage pool.

 

[TheLunaPark]

Looks good and is something I would do but the price is hilarious.

 

[falkon-engine]

USB4v2 / TB5 will be great for increasing the bandwidth and speed of PCIe over a USB-c wire. But of course that won't help the Mac Studio gen1.

 

[DD88]

Nice rack

 

[herocero]

Is it 100% certain they will make a rackmount version?

It’s called an xserve baby! 🤣 And yeah don’t count on a rack version, your aftermarket folk are the way.

 

[J InTech82]

Looks good and is something I would do but the price is hilarious.

How is it hilarious? The price is nothing to the professionals who will be purchasing it. If you're able to afford a Mac Studio, surely you are able to afford this, or at least be able to get the work, to then be able to afford this. Surely this was not made for the hobbyist.

 

[red elma]

This is an awesome option for small A/V studios.
Been using Sonnettech Echo Express III for years now without a single glitch and it being compatible with this new enclosure is a big bonus. Hats off to Sonnettech!