Apple scraps Xserve

by Simon Aughton on November 8, 2010

Apple has announced that XServe will no longer be available after 31 January, 2011.

The company will continue to support existing installations, but from the beginning of February anyone looking to run Mac OS X Server will have to choose between a Mac Pro or a Mac mini, which has been available in a server configuration since October 2009.

In a document detailing the changes, Apple notes that Mac Pro systems deliver performance and expandability equal to or surpassing Xserve while the Mac mini with Snow Leopard has become the company’s most popular server system, brining “great capability in a small, efficient form factor that is affordable and can be deployed anywhere”.

A single Mac mini can run the full suite of Mac OS X Server services and or as a single-task server for a larger number of users in a business or education environment. Depending on the workload and number of users, a single Xserve could be replaced with one or multiple Mac mini server systems, Apple says.

Xserve was introduced in 2002 and while it was never a big seller for the company it appeared to fill a market niche until the Mac mini emerged as a viable — and much cheaper — alternative.

Tagged as: Apple, Mac mini, Mac OS X Server, Mac Pro, Xserve

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  • dhastur

    “Mac mini emerged as a viable — and much cheaper — alternative”

    Show me the redundant power supplies please? Where’s the rack mounting kit?

  • ibizageeza

    Mac Pro utilising a wapping 12U of Rack Space… nice one
    Mac Mini… as a server… don’t be daft

  • Mike_Brown2

    That’s the whole point, modern computing doesn’t need a room full of racks full of modules and cabling that only the geeks can understand. (But if you are a geek trying to protect his domain, then I understand!). Un-interuptable Power Supply Units have been available for some time now…

    Get with the 21st Century!

    Mike

  • Alex_Rentoul1

    LOM is not particularly geeky and you don’t get it on a tower or a MacMini. As the owner of several businesses (and I have run listed companies, too), I have no time for geeks or excessive technological complexity, which is why I almost invariably forced the purchase of Apple kit. However, even in the 21st century there are enterprises (and I run several) where an enterprise server is the only practical requirement. A tower or a MacPro as a server, yes, done that – but these are not good enough for enterprise level work, not least because the server has to be powered down for any maintenance.

    I reckon Apple is moving to be solely a music devices and phone company – very probably this will be good for shareholders. However, for those of us loyal to and with a significant investment in the Apple desktop, portables and servers, the writing of the future direction is clearly on the wall. For future purchases, we will now think much more seriously about moving platforms.

  • amarkelo

    Mike_Brown2, this is nor about geeks. If you don’t run a server farm, that’s fine. Please, don’t be rude to those of us who do run it. ;-)

    I guess Apple simply moves into a different business and the server end is not making them as much money as the rest of the products. Sad. Shall we expect OSX server edition to be dropped at some stage too? Can’t really see the point of running it on a Mac mini.

  • AdrianB3

    I think maybe computing still needs pukka servers, despite the very neat looking mini. If your Mac mini’s single PS or ethernet port dies it will stop working / serving – no matter how big your UPS is or how sophisticated the network redundancy infrastructure it might be plugged in to.
    Unless your site/application is already running on a “cloud” type setup.
    You could run several Minis to get around it’s lack of redundancy, but doesn’t that kind of miss the point, especially for the the market the xserve was designed to serve ?

  • dhastur

    As the geek with 2 rooms full of racks I look at the processing power that can be packed into 12U and then at a Mac Pro… no contest.

    And yes, we have industrial strength UPS systems; but that won’t protect against a psu blowing in a single supply machine.

    The Xserve was a reasonable bit of kit. The Mac Pro and Mini are not adequate substitutes.

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