“The Mac Pro Server comes with one 2.8GHz Quad-Core Intel Xeon ‘Nehalem’ processor, 8GB of RAM, and two 1TB hard drives. It also has Mac OS X Server unlimited with a client license, and an ATI HD 5770 graphics card with 1GB of GDDR5 memory,” AppleInsider reports. “The new configuration starts at $2,999 and ships in 2 to 4 weeks.”
AppleInsider reports, “The new Mac Pro Server can also be upgraded, with custom build-to-order options offering up to two 2.93GHz six-core Intel Xeon “Westmere” processors, for a total of 12 processing cores at an added cost of $3,475.”
More info in the full article here.
There’s got to be a master plan. License OS X Server to others? What?
That would eliminate the need to make the hardware and help them continue to make inroads into the enterprise, which they ARE doing.
Interesting.
Olmecmystic
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Unless you are a rack person, this is a good deal. You essentially are getting the Server software for free based on configured price of computer alone. My company is looking at switching to Apple Server but we have some legacy crap that needs MSSBS (mainly Goldmine which requires Exchange Server) and thus it is on hold. But this package makes cost decision a no brainer.
Has Apple ever said they would discontinue Xserve? I think that is a big mistake if they plan on pushing into the enterprise market. I think it is a great design with the hot swappable drive bays.
@Macdust…
“Apple discontinues Xserve as of January 31; will continue to fully support existing units”
http://macdailynews.com/index.php/weblog/comments/27329/
@fandango
Thanks, saw that now. Still disheartening.
Amazin1 … agreed. This is, for a shop not devoted to blades, an excellent option. The cost is lower. The price is lower. The RAM is higher. The storage is higher. The box is suitable for use in an open office environment. And you can upgrade it to much stronger CPU power. The losses? Throughput, I guess, and modest rack storage.
For a server-heavy shop – one with ROOMS devoted to servers – this is not a good solution. Which eliminates the Fortune 500 companies. But, a lot of smaller companies and a lot of departments in larger companies can make this work.
” think that is a big mistake if they plan on pushing into the enterprise market. I think it is a great design with the hot swappable drive bays.”
Uhm… You must be new.. Apple doesn’t care about the Enterprise..They’re a Consumer Electronics company and have been since the Apple ][
Apple recently began signing up computer services companies to sell it’s stuff to the enterprise & government markets. It would not surprise me if Apple announced that it was going to allow value added resellers to put Mac OSX server on approved 3rd party rack servers.
RAID..RAID..RAID.. Where is the raid? Enterprise is laughing at this. Soft raid is a joke..
No hot swappable bays sux also. No redundant Power supply. Who gives a shit about the video card ITS A SERVER, it doesn’t need one..
So lame Apple, so Lame..
WTF! I need 1U apple, Now i have to stick this big ass box in my rack that takes up a shit load of space. Way to kill you enterprise support. A stupid move Steve
Without a redundant power supply this is never going to make it in to my server room.
@ Truth
“RAID..RAID..RAID.. Where is the raid? Enterprise is laughing at this. Soft raid is a joke..”
It has a hardware RAID card option. It does not have a redundant power supply
Enterprise isn’t going to be happy not having rack-mounted server. This is a dumb move. I love Apple, but this is a dumb move considering enterprise for Apple is about to take off….
1 GB of RAM? WHAT?!?!?!?
Even my Mac mini server came with 4 GB.
Cheap bastards.
@another option
I hope you are right, I could live with OS X running on an HP server if i had to. Just like the X Raid, is now Promise branded. Not as pretty but functional, and in Promise’s case actually better.
So, what kind of servers is Apple going to use in their N.C. server farm? And everywhere else, i.e. to run the online iTunes store.
I can’t imagine they are going to use Mac minis or Mac Pros, yet using some 3rd party solution would be TERRIBLE PR.
Seems like they could easily make a rack mount version of the Mac mini server with 2 hot swappable hard drives and 2 power supplies.
Seems like should be able to come up with a decent rack mount mac mini server with very little investment and very little risk.
Mac minis are great to hang off a TV, or if you want to use it as an IM server on the DMZ, but are not enterprise class, even with 2 power supplies. It has to be modular in nature.
@qka
“1 GB of RAM? WHAT?!?!?!?
Even my Mac mini server came with 4 GB.”
Thats the graphics card with 1 gig of RAM. The server has 8 gigs.
@qka
It’s a typo. It comes with 8GB RAM.
@qka
Take another look – 8GB of RAM
It is the ATI HD 5770 graphics card that has 1GB of GDDR5 memory
@Synthmeister
Does everyone honestly think that Apple has to sell to the puplic what they use for their server farm. They could still use an an updated Xserve. They don’t have to sell it to the public.
That’s what I’m saying.
It doesn’t seem like it would be that hard or expensive or risky to make a rackmount, modular version of the mac-mini. Lots of small and large businesses would go for that kind of package which should start at under $1500 given that the regular Mac Mini server is only $999.
And again, what hardware is Apple going to use for it’s own massive server needs?
“Apple recently began signing up computer services companies to sell it’s stuff to the enterprise & government markets. It would not surprise me if Apple announced that it was going to allow value added resellers to put Mac OSX server on approved 3rd party rack servers.”
That’s the only explanation that makes sense to me. As with enterprise storage two years ago: let 3rd parties handle the hardware.
It makes the switch easier to sell. Use the same old server hardware you’re already comfortable with, but switch to OSX.
Either that, or Apple is moving away from selling server hardware above the floor/workgroup level, and skipping directly to cloud-based enterprise solutions.
Apple has the attention of enterprise right now. They would be in a better position than anyone else to sell the idea of a completely cloud-based server environment. They have the client hardware (iMacs, iPads, iPhones) and now they have the server farm to back up just such a proposition. Apple end-to-end — one point of accountability, no viruses, dramatically down-size your IT department. Some companies will buy into that approach.
To rack mount your MacPro server you can buy the MacPro rack kit at http://www.activatethespace.com/cadlock.html
Apple uses OS X Server in their server farms. The hardware source is not that important as long as the specs meet Apple’s needs.