Apple Discontinues Xserve

Hey guys

just saw this on MacRumors:

http://www.macrumors.com/2010/11/05/apple-discontinues-xserve-only-availabl...

it looks like they are discontinuing the Xserve and now have a Mac Pro Server as an available config in the Apple Store. the Mac Pro basically comes with 2 hard drives and OS X Server. of course, without the the Xserve, you lose dual power supplies, rack mounting, easily swappable drives, among other things. i haven't installed an Xserve as part of an Ethernet SAN, mostly because there's only 2 PCIe slots on the Xserve, but all my Xsan installations have Xserves and i can definitely see the pluses for some people. i've read that redundant power supplies are required in some machine rooms, so now Apple hardware isn't an option for some.

e

Eric Hansen - http://www.erichansen.tv

i vividly remember the day Xserve RAID was axed. i was ordering one (maybe 2) and my Apple Enterprise account exec said, you know, we're discontinuing these things. but, we got this RAID from a company called Promise and it won't be ready for a few months.

so i cancelled the order and delayed the Xsan installation i was doing for a few months. i couldn't go until the Promise boxes were ready. i wanted to wait because the Promise RAIDs could do things that we had all been asking for and the Apple RAIDs couldn't i understood why Apple canceled. what bugged me, still does, is that they never give a roadmap for their enterprise stuff, which is extremely annoying.

so the difference here is that Apple already had an option ready to go when they axed Xserve RAID. but here, theres no replacement. a Mac Pro is definitely inferior. with Lion on the horizon, i do wonder about the future of OS X Server.

i don't like speculating on the CreativeCow board. i know it annoys some people and it's not productive. but it's just one more thing Apple is doing in their move from high-end to consumer. as a member of this specific SAN Networks forum, and a FCP user, i'm even more worried about Apple implied direction.

e

Eric Hansen - http://www.erichansen.tv

For AFP sharing it's easy, just use a mac pro to share it out -- or you can continue to use XSAN and use StorNext controllers (hp + redhat).

I take this to mean that Xsan is next on the chopping block. Obviously that's just my opinion, but if you *must* have redundant Metadata controllers and you can no longer buy a 19" rack mount solution, the enterprise isn't going to buy it. Mac Pros don't have redundant power either. It seems like a shift away from that space.

In my opinion, NAS has always been cheaper, easier to scale and safer. Who wants to send sensitive inode operations out over a cheap 3COM switch using TCP? (Oh yeah... Xsan) :)

Steve

Steve Modica
CTO, Small Tree Communications