Originally Posted by AppleInsider

Alongside new Mac Pros, Apple on Tuesday also introduced the new Xserve, a 1U rack-optimized server that the company claims is up to twice as fast as its predecessor and includes an unlimited client license for Mac OS X Server Leopard.

Starting at just $2,999, the new Xserve has up to two Quad-Core 3.0 GHz Intel Xeon processors for 8-core performance, a new server architecture, faster front side buses, faster memory, up to 3TB of internal storage and two PCI Express 2.0 expansion slots for greater performance and flexibility.

With the latest Intel processors and no client access licenses, Xserve offers unbeatable server performance and value for under $3,000, said Philip Schiller, Apples senior vice president of Worldwide Product Marketing. Xserves power, storage and Leopard Server make it ideal for supporting Mac clients and mixed platform workgroups.

Xserve is configurable with up to two Quad-Core Intel Xeon 5400 series processors running up to 3.0 GHz with 12MB of L2 cache per processor and features a new high-bandwidth hardware architecture, dual-independent 1600 MHz front side buses and up to 32GB of 800 MHz DDR2 ECC FB-DIMM memory for a 64 percent increase in memory throughput. Two PCI Express 2.0 expansion slots provide up to four times the I/O bandwidth of the previous Xserve to support the latest high-bandwidth expansion cards including multi-channel 4Gb Fibre channel and 10Gb Ethernet cards.



Xserve now also includes built-in accelerated graphics to drive up to a 23-inch Apple Cinema Display and a new front-facing USB 2.0 port. Using Apples Server Monitor, an administrator can remotely turn Xserve on or off and manage server software from anywhere on the network. Each of Xserves three drive bays can be configured with 73GB or 300GB SAS drives or 80GB and 1TB SATA drives, providing a mix of high performance and vast storage capabilities for a wide range of server applications. Additionally, Apple offers a hardware RAID card option that delivers hardware RAID levels 0, 1 and 5 with 256MB of cache and an included backup battery for up to 72 hours of cached data protection. The Xserve RAID card delivers up to 251MB/s RAID 5 performance for the most demanding server workloads, without using a valuable PCI Express expansion slot, the company said.



The new Xserve also sports improves energy efficiency with Intels 45 nanometer core microarchitecture technology. The processors draw a maximum consumption of 80W, and drop as low as 4W when idle. Power supplies exceed Energy Star recommendations from the US Department of Energy and Apples thermal management technology cools the systems efficiently in a wide variety of environments while reducing power consumption.

Each Xserve ships with a preinstalled, unlimited client edition of Leopard Server software, offering true 64-bit support, easy-to-use management tools and support for Mac, Linux and Windows clients. Leopard Server is fully UNIX compliant and extends Apples legendary ease of use by introducing over 250 new features, including Podcast Producer, the ideal way to automatically publish podcasts to iTunes or the web; Wiki Server, allowing people to collaboratively create and modify their shared web sites with just a few clicks; and iCal Server, the worlds first commercial CalDAV standard-based calendar server.

Pricing & Availability

The new Xserve is shipping today and will be available through the Apple Store and Apple Authorized Resellers.

The Xserve standard configuration, with a suggested retail price of $2,999 (US), includes:a single 64-bit 2.8 GHz Quad-Core Xeon processor with 12MB of L2 cache and a 1600 Mhz front side bus2GB of 800 MHz DDR2 ECC FB-DIMM RAM, expandable up to 32GBa single 80GB SATA Apple Drive Moduledual Gigabit Ethernet on-boardinternal graphicstwo FireWire 800 and three USB 2.0 ports; andan unlimited client license for Mac OS X Server version 10.5 Leopard.In addition to the standard configuration, Xserve offers numerous build-to-order options and accessories including: dual 2.8 or 3.0 GHz Quad-Core Intel Xeon processors; 80GB and 1TB 7200 rpm SATA or 73GB or 300GB 15,000rpm SAS Apple Drive Modules; internal Xserve RAID card; Gigabit Ethernet, 4Gb Fibre Channel and U320 SCSI expansion card options, and a 750W redundant power supply.

Originally Posted by applestockholder

In the past this announcement would have been the focus of a Steve Jobs Keynote. If this upgrade is such small potatoes that it happened without huppla, then that begs the question what great things are in store next week!!!

Originally Posted by retiarius

Now that Apple is going with Sun's ZFS, isn't the RAID controller (but not the array itself) a bit old-fashioned?

Originally Posted by Unicron

Besides Biolabs, isn't 8-cores in a server a bit overkill? I can't see an 8-core helping a XRAID SAN in a Final Cut Pro server situation... can it?

Originally Posted by retiarius

Now that Apple is going with Sun's ZFS, isn't the RAID controller (but not the array itself)
a bit old-fashioned?

Originally Posted by onlooker

Ever heard the term renderfarm? LOL - J/K. I don't know exactly how the cores would help FCP server situation, but encoding HD times are greatly increased. The Mac Pro site has some comparisons. All with FCP involved. You should check it out.

Originally Posted by melgross

You mean decreased, I hope.

But what industry and government wants is an Apple 2U server, and blades. I read this often enough.