Xserve cost cutting Q's

[Poeben]

So I'm in the market for an Xserve with the following config:

Dual 2.0/4GB RAM/2x80GB/1x750GB/Superdrive/DualPSU

I figured out I can save about $800 by purchasing the RAM and HDDs separetly and installing myself. Any reason not to do this? Am I correct to assume that the 'blank' Apple Drive Modules will easily accept aftermarket drives?

Thanks for any help.

 

[zioxide]

wtf do you need an xserve for?

 

[Shadow]

wtf do you need an xserve for?

Is that any of your business? I think he/she should be able to buy an Xserve without answering to you...


OP: I'd imagine that the ADMs can accept any standard drive, and that they are relativley easy to install. Not sure about RAM though...

 

[zioxide]

Is that any of your business? I think he/she should be able to buy an Xserve without answering to you...

right.. i'm just curious. If he's just ordering it for home use or something, I was going to say that it would be a huge waste of money when you could buy a small cheap pc and run a linux server on it and get the same features.

 

[Poeben]

Whoa, good thing I didn't mention the 10TB raid too And if I were using it at home I wouldn't settle for any less than 32GB ram.

Anyway, I figured there wouldn't be a problem upgrading these components, as I have done the same thing for years with all my desktop macs. Just haven't purchased a server before so just wanted to make sure I wasn't missing something (like having to purchase an actual ADM because they only put 'blanks' in the empty bays, or some special memory heatsink....)

 

[andrewag]

The RAM will not be a problem, nor should the HDD. I bought "mine" with the three drives occupied so i'm not sure if Apple leave a hard drive cradle in the "spare" slots, or do they just put in a dummy cover? That could be your only catch (as you said).

I didn't really answer your question did I?

 

[Yoursh]

As long as the ram is mac friendly(ie certified mac compatible) it will be fine to install it on your own. The slots are easy to get since the xserve's are designed to be acessable. If your looking at a new Intel xserve, compatible ram should come with heat sinks if they're anything like the Mac pro models. You may want to verify when you're looking at manufacturers.

As for the drives, I installed 2 500GB drives into my G4 xserve. I haven't had any problems with them so far(Seagate models by the way). The real problem is finding trays for the drives. Apple only sells the removeable trays with drives included. The only way to get empty trays is after market like ebay. That's were I got my 2. The average price is around $125-$175 if you wait for a good deal. You would also need trays that take SATA drives. The G4 xserves and xraids take ATA/IEDE drives.

The only other thing i would add is that if you plan on using the drives for heavy use, you may want to go with Apple drive modules. The hard drives they use are designed for heavy use, compared to the average drives you get at retail. They're built to run most of the time. I went with my own since I don't use mine all the time. I just use mine for a RAID 1 storage.

And yes I use it as a home serverTotal investment <$800

Hope this helped a little.

 

[pengu]

right.. i'm just curious. If he's just ordering it for home use or something, I was going to say that it would be a huge waste of money when you could buy a small cheap pc and run a linux server on it and get the same features.

i think you're making the mistake of claiming a linux server can be everything to everyone.

the OP never even mentioned what he wants it for.

hell, he might want to run Logic/FCS etc in a sound proofed rack, and you just assumed he wants a web/print/file server.

 

[Poeben]

Thanks for the replies. It looks like I'll just get the 3 HDs from Apple as I don't think it's worth it to try to find empty sleds. The ram is still a toss up, but it's only a few hundred dollars so...

To answer the question of what for...combined with an Xraid or 2:

1. House and serve our music/fx library
2. Share video, audio, omf and session files
3. House our session backups
4. Host FTP and intranet web services
5. Offload some compressor rendering tasks

Thats about it.

 

[Yoursh]

I would say with the uses you posted, just go with Apple drives. I spent about a third of what my 2 drives would have cost from Apple, but that involved several months of research and searching for the best deals. I also don't push the drives anywhere near what you plan on doing. At least with Apple drives you know they will be fully compatible and will be covered by Applecare incase of hardware failure.

As for the ram, I would still say just buy your own. The new xserves use the same ram that the Mac Pro's use. You can get that ram from OWC or crucial.com for a lot less then Apple. They would be very easy to install. Like my xserve, you open it by sliding the top open from the front. This gives you easy access to all the components. If you look at the internal images on the Apple page you can see the ram slots are on the center right side. If you take regular static charge precausions, it just like installing ram in any other computer.