Apple unveils most powerful Xserve ever

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, Apple’s senior vice president of Worldwide Product Marketing. “Xserve’s 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 Apple’s Server Monitor, an administrator can remotely turn Xserve on or off and manage server software from anywhere on the network. Each of Xserve’s 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 Intel’s 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 Apple’s 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 Apple’s 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 world’s 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.

• a single 64-bit 2.8 GHz Quad-Core Xeon processor with 12MB of L2 cache and a 1600 Mhz front side bus
• 2GB of 800 MHz DDR2 ECC FB-DIMM RAM, expandable up to 32GB
• a single 80GB SATA Apple Drive Module
• dual Gigabit Ethernet on-board
• internal graphics
• two FireWire 800 and three USB 2.0 ports; and
• an unlimited client license for Mac OS X Server version 10.5 Leopard.