Apple to discontinue Xserve after Jan. 31, 2011

Apple to discontinue Xserve after Jan. 31, 2011
http://www.appleinsider.com/articles/10/11/05/apple_to_discontinue_xserve_after_jan_31_2011.html

Apple this week announced the discontinuation of Xserve, revealing it will support but no longer offer its rackmounted servers after Jan. 31, 2011.

Click to expand...

Apple offers new Mac Pro Server configuration to replace Xserve
http://www.appleinsider.com/article...o_server_configuration_to_replace_xserve.html

Apple on Friday added a new server option to its Mac Pro lineup Friday, with a $2,999 system that is designed to replace the Xserve hardware which will be discontinued in early 2011.

Click to expand...

Well instead of three servers, one of which isn't seeing decent sales, now we're seeing two servers- one of which can easily be purchased by consumers for home use, and one that can be used in a Mac lab.

Well I read up the spec comparisons (standard configurations). And the Xserve has a better form factor, a little more power consumption and Lights Out Management. But apart from those 2 little things the Mac Pro is way better. And this is at the same price point. $2999US each for both. So yeah if you need a work horse server, the Mac Pro is a better option.

But for the little servers, the Mac Mini Server at $999US is a pretty good deal too. Apple thought this out. Xserve not selling well, become slowly outdated compared to the Mac Pro and always consolidating their product lines meant the Xserve had to go. But don't cry for it really. As the Mac Pro for the same price point is way better. You just need a little more space for it. But considering Xserve is only 160GB and the Mac Pro is 2x 1TB hard drives, you'd need 12 Xserves to equal the 2TB of space the standard config Mac Pro has.

In short the Xserve is old technology. And for the same price the Mac Pro is much better. So really there are no losers here.

IT conference attendees react to Xserve's demise
IT conference attendees react to Xserve's demise | Servers | MacUser | Macworld

They were in a market where the xserve didn't do to well because it's os was good, but the xserve is getting old in an time when virtual servers are better. They can't get the os to run on other platforms due to liscensing. Also, I think it's a joke to even mention the mac mini as an option to the xserve! Their stats aren't even remotely close to the xserve's potential. The xserve is a powerhouse of a server(for apple) but it's getting old. The move to discontinue it is wrong, but if they don't know how to make a better server, then I guess there's nothing you can do. The only real problem with the mac pro is its rack mountability. There are some kits out for it, but that just creates access problems.

idrinorbarsaku said:

The move to discontinue it is wrong

Click to expand...

I think we will have to agree to disagree on this point. .

XServe was not popular, it barely sold anything. I'd rather them kill of an unprofitable line and put that money and the developers to something more worthwhile.

the8thark said:

I think we will have to agree to disagree on this point. .

Click to expand...

What if they could of made something better? They just ended it completely...they could of said they were putting it off for now...

Yes Xserve is dead. But they said nothing about a Xserve replacement with a different name. But I think from what I read Apple wants the replacement to be Mac Pros. And most Apple products are gone on the same day the upgraded product is released. No warning. I think this few months leeway we see from Apple on the Xserve is simply cause of the large backlog of Xserves Apple needs to sell.

Doe this signal the end to OSX server too? Maybe the first step in getting out of the server market.

nzguy said:

Doe this signal the end to OSX server too? Maybe the first step in getting out of the server market.

Click to expand...

It's worth nothing that there has been no announcement of a Lion Server, only a workstation version.

technologist said:

It's worth nothing that there has been no announcement of a Lion Server, only a workstation version.

Click to expand...

This could mean:
1. There is no Server Lion
2. The workstation version is the server version just renamed
3. The standard version has all of the server features in it for the one low price.

If I was a betting man I'd probably put my money on number 2.

Or they just didn't bother to announce it yet, since it was primarily a consumer oriented announcement?

The didn't announce SL server when the announced SL or Leopard server when they announced Leopard...

You need to consider your audience.

I really like the opinions of this article.

Basically, that Apple might be considering to abandon enterprise business in favor of small business. Which the article explains that it may not be a bad idea, being that there are more small businesses than enterprise ones.

And being that Apple is building that behemoth of a data center in North Carolina that we might be seeing Apple offering cloud services to businesses. These services would include file, web, wiki, calendar, and mail, etc, etc.

Nobody really mentioned them in this discussion, just wondering what others thought.

schweb said:

Or they just didn't bother to announce it yet, since it was primarily a consumer oriented announcement?

The didn't announce SL server when the announced SL

Click to expand...

Yes they did. It wasn't part of the show-and-tell speech, but the feature list went up on the Apple website.

Apple - Mac OS X Server
That's from June 19, 2008. Notice the Snow Leopard Server link at the bottom.

Small business do not need rack mounted server farms. Just 1 Mac Pro or in many instances a Mac Mini Server will do. And a whole small business can be run from that. And factor in the less IT maintenance costs and the works, The Mac Pro/Mini Server becomes some very cost effective ways to manage the business.

I'm sure Apple has thought of all of this already though.

Alleged Steve Jobs e-mail says 'hardly anyone' was buying Apple's Xserves
AppleInsider | Alleged Steve Jobs e-mail says 'hardly anyone' was buying Apple's Xserves

When pressed by a user on Apple's recent decision to cancel its Xserve line of rackmounted servers, Chief Executive Steve Jobs allegedly revealed that "hardly anyone" was buying the hardware.

Click to expand...

If this email is to be beleived then we have a very solid reason to why the Xserve was discontinued. Nothing to do with Apple caning the server editions, just a simple lack of sales.

Likewise the Leopard Server "Sneak Peek" in August 2006
Apple - Leopard Server Sneak Peek

the8thark said:

Alleged Steve Jobs e-mail says 'hardly anyone' was buying Apple's Xserves
AppleInsider | Alleged Steve Jobs e-mail says 'hardly anyone' was buying Apple's Xserves


If this email is to be beleived then we have a very solid reason to why the Xserve was discontinued. Nothing to do with Apple caning the server editions, just a simple lack of sales.

Click to expand...

I don't doubt that he's correct. Xserve was undoubtedly the lowest-selling line.

But that doesn't say much for or against the idea that OS X Server development will continue.

Apple may come out with Lion server, or it may continue to sell and update Snow Leopard server well into the future. (I could see Apple doing every-other milestone releases of Server and just doing security updates in between.) It's impossible to do anything but guess there have been no announcements. Compared to any other major IT vendor, Apple is the most secretive and provides the least notice of when products will be unsupported.

technologist said:

Likewise the Leopard Server "Sneak Peek" in August 2006
Apple - Leopard Server Sneak Peek

Click to expand...

Wow, it must be hard to be right all the time huh?

But I still stand by the fact until Apple says they're killing their sever software, there's no point in worrying about it.

Of course that mean you may not be able to do "real work" once Lion comes out.