Xserve, l’ora del server Unix

You wanted purpose-built server hardware that could harness the tremendous underlying capabilities of Mac OS X Server software. That’s why Xserve features prodigiously powerful PowerPC G4 processors, massive amounts of storage, hot-plug drives, RAID solutions, remote management tools and the ability to boot up and run without a monitor.
You wanted a 1U rack-optimised design that would let you deploy many more servers in a single location. Wish granted: Xserve lets you stack 42 high-performance units in an industry-standard 8-foot-tall rack with up to 630 gigaflops of processing power.
You wanted vast amounts of space for storing everything from high-definition video to large scientific datasets. Accordingly, Xserve holds nearly half a terabyte of data per machine ”€ and more than 20 terabytes per 42U rack.
You wanted to be able to swap parts and replace components at will, and now you can. In fact, you can replace all Xserve’s components in next to no time ”€ with no tools.
And finally, you wanted next-generation monitoring and management tools that let you keep your finger on the pulse of your network. Remotely, if necessary. Xserve delivers all this and more ”€ for about the price of competitive servers that now lag a generation behind.Now imagine harnessing the power of up to 84 processors in a 42U rack that packs a 630-gigaflop wallop ”€ and combining all that horsepower and storage capacity with Apple’s legendary ease-of-use. That, in a nutshell, is the unbeatable Xserve value proposition.

No comparison
With dual 1GHz PowerPC G4s, up to 2GB DDR SDRAM, two 64-bit 66MHz PCI slots (plus a third combination PCI/AGP slot), dual Gigabit Ethernet, FireWire, USB and four Ultra ATA/100 Apple Drive Module bays, Apple’s top-of-the-line 1U configuration compares favourably not just with 1U competitors, but even with 2U form factors.

Mac OS X Server, the industrial-strength server operating system
Xserve runs Mac OS X Server, the cutting-edge, UNIX-based server operating system that gives you such coveted features as protected memory, pre-emptive multitasking, symmetric multiprocessing, advanced memory management and the latest in networking technologies. At the core of Mac OS X Server is the industrial-strength open source foundation called Darwin. Based on the Mach 3.0 microkernel and BSD UNIX, Darwin is the rock-solid foundation that gives Mac OS X Server its remarkable performance and stability.

Out-of-the-box support for Mac, Windows, UNIX and Linux clients
It doesn’t matter whether you have Mac, Windows, UNIX or Linux clients ”€ or a combination thereof ”€ on your network. Mac OS X Server provides cross-platform support for native file sharing, as well as Apache Web server and WebDAV server, POP and IMAP mail, ftp, QuickTime Streaming Server, DNS and DHCP ”€ right out-of-the-box. Windows, UNIX and Linux are not treated any differently, and will enjoy benefits that Mac users take for granted.*

Remote hardware monitoring
Xserve also features Server Monitor, a remote monitoring application that lets you administer your servers ”€ on a machine-by-machine basis, or hundreds of machines at a time ”€ with an intuitive, easy-to-use Aqua interface. You can gauge everything from system temperature, blower operation, hard drive health and Ethernet status to the condition of your power supply. Red, yellow and green lights provide a quick visual summary of hardware health, and a tabbed window interface gives you one-click access to the details of each hardware subsystem.