Xserve second cd

Hi all I'm wondering if someone can give me some advice on configuring an XServe. I'm a Mac admin, but I don't have a lot of experience with setting up Servers from scratch, only with configuring them.
I recently installed a PCI hardware RAID controller card in a Dual 2 GHz G5 XServe with 3 x 250 GB Hard Drives with a view to setting up a RAID 5 array. Once the card was installed I started the XServe up from the install CD, ssh'd into and ran the megaraid command to create one logical drive of 50GB for the operating system and another LD of 450GB for storage. I then initialized the boot disk using megaraid -initialize and formatted it for HFS+ using dskutil.
Next I used the Server Assistant to install the operating system and got to the end of the first CD. I put the second CD in the drive and came back to my desk to find the Server Assistant asking me to configure the install. I've configured it and can ssh into, but I suspect the second CD never installed properly. When I run the sa-srchr command I get the message that the install is in progress, but I can ssh into it with the user I created, but I still have to use the serial number as the password.
I've tried to kickstart the ARD agent so i can use Remote DEsktop to see if the second CD has mounted, (running sudo /System/Library/CoreServices/RemoteManagement/ARDAgent.app/Contents/Resources/k ickstart -restart -agent which seemed to be successful) but I still can't remote into it.
Has anyone else out there encountered this problem before? or can anyone give me any advice?
Should I have installed from the commandline? should I have rebooted when it asked for the second CD? where can I go from here?
I'd love any hints or tips or feedback
cheers

Problem solved!
After days of troubleshooting and hair pulling and hours on the phone to Apple, I've discovered that this is an unofficially known problem! Turns out that it is impossible to get the second CD to go through it's install process remotely on this model of XServe, not through the commandline and not through the Server Assistant. Complicated by the fact that the PCI Hardware RAID card procludes booting in Firewire mode, the optical drive is only a CD-ROM, it has no vid card, and the gui in the Server SEtup assistant offers no option to customise the install to a point where the second CD is not required.
Quickest solution was to put a video card in it, attach a monitor et voila, - Server is up and running. Thanks Mathieu Mauser, tricky yes! fun, definitely not this time!

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    com.apple.iokit.IOPCIFamily          2.7
    com.apple.iokit.IOACPIFamily          1.4
    Model: Xserve3,1, BootROM XS31.0081.B04, 4 processors, Quad-Core Intel Xeon, 2.26 GHz, 6 GB, SMC 1.43f4
    Graphics: NVIDIA GeForce GT 120, NVIDIA GeForce GT 120, PCIe, 256 MB
    Memory Module: CPUA/A1, 2 GB, DDR3 ECC, 1066 MHz, 0x80CE, 0x4D33393142353637334448312D4346382020
    Memory Module: CPUA/A2, 2 GB, DDR3 ECC, 1066 MHz, 0x80CE, 0x4D33393142353637334448312D4346382020
    Memory Module: CPUA/A3, 2 GB, DDR3 ECC, 1066 MHz, 0x80CE, 0x4D33393142353637334448312D4346382020
    Network Service: Ethernet 1, Ethernet, en0
    PCI Card: NVIDIA GeForce GT 120, sppci_displaycontroller, MXM-Slot
    Serial ATA Device: OPTIARC DVD RW AD-5670S
    Serial ATA Device: APPLE SSD SM128, 121.33 GB
    USB Device: Frontpanel Controller, apple_vendor_id, 0x8261, 0x3d100000 / 2
    FireWire Device: Rugged FW USB3, LaCie, 800mbit_speed
    Interval Since Last Panic Report:  8968402 sec
    Panics Since Last Report:          2
    Anonymous UUID:                    872B069A-8356-4F34-8BB1-76AFDCDBE600
    Mon Aug  5 16:13:36 2013
    panic(cpu 0 caller 0xffffff80002c4794): Kernel trap at 0xffffff7f808c46d2, type 14=page fault, registers:
    CR0: 0x000000008001003b, CR2: 0x0000000000000000, CR3: 0x0000000000100000, CR4: 0x0000000000000660
    RAX: 0x0000000000000000, RBX: 0xffffff8012bc3bc0, RCX: 0x00000000011f0000, RDX: 0xffffff800ef0af00
    RSP: 0xffffff80b878baa0, RBP: 0xffffff80b878bae0, RSI: 0x0000000000360036, RDI: 0xffffff800ef0af00
    R8:  0x0000000000000158, R9:  0xffffff8011c44400, R10: 0x0000000000008000, R11: 0xffffff80002dad60
    R12: 0xffffff800ef0af10, R13: 0xffffff8011430600, R14: 0xffffff8011c7f000, R15: 0xffffff8012bc4f80
    RFL: 0x0000000000010246, RIP: 0xffffff7f808c46d2, CS:  0x0000000000000008, SS:  0x0000000000000010
    CR2: 0x0000000000000000, Error code: 0x0000000000000000, Faulting CPU: 0x0
    Backtrace (CPU 0), Frame : Return Address
    0xffffff80b878b750 : 0xffffff8000220792
    0xffffff80b878b7d0 : 0xffffff80002c4794
    0xffffff80b878b980 : 0xffffff80002da55d
    0xffffff80b878b9a0 : 0xffffff7f808c46d2
    0xffffff80b878bae0 : 0xffffff7f808c9482
    0xffffff80b878bb10 : 0xffffff7f808c4f27
    0xffffff80b878bb20 : 0xffffff7f817cba4d
    0xffffff80b878bb50 : 0xffffff800062a29d
    0xffffff80b878bba0 : 0xffffff800062aace
    0xffffff80b878bc20 : 0xffffff800062ae49
    0xffffff80b878bc60 : 0xffffff800062b021
    0xffffff80b878bca0 : 0xffffff8000622f8b
    0xffffff80b878bce0 : 0xffffff7f8085ee05
    0xffffff80b878bd10 : 0xffffff7f8085f61b
    0xffffff80b878bdb0 : 0xffffff7f81735d15
    0xffffff80b878bde0 : 0xffffff7f817366eb
    0xffffff80b878be40 : 0xffffff7f8173629b
    0xffffff80b878be60 : 0xffffff800062a29d
    0xffffff80b878beb0 : 0xffffff800062aace
    0xffffff80b878bf30 : 0xffffff800062ae49
    0xffffff80b878bf70 : 0xffffff8000629a2f
    0xffffff80b878bfb0 : 0xffffff8000820057
          Kernel Extensions in backtrace:
             com.apple.iokit.IOUSBFamily(5.1)[71AF5A29-1AE2-3812-A0FF-96DD1CC6534D]@0xffffff 7f80848000->0xffffff7f8089dfff
                dependency: com.apple.iokit.IOPCIFamily(2.7)[5C23D598-58B2-3204-BC03-BC3C0F00BD32]@0xffffff 7f8082a000
             com.apple.iokit.IOSCSIArchitectureModelFamily(3.2.1)[5948254C-CBA8-34E3-B5B4-57 5E7D4C7BD1]@0xffffff7f808c1000->0xffffff7f808ebfff
             com.apple.driver.AppleUSBComposite(5.0)[64C51F06-5AFA-3057-99EA-D32EF21C5278]@0 xffffff7f81735000->0xffffff7f8173afff
                dependency: com.apple.iokit.IOUSBFamily(5.1.0)[71AF5A29-1AE2-3812-A0FF-96DD1CC6534D]@0xffff ff7f80848000
             com.apple.iokit.IOUSBAttachedSCSI(1.0.2)[77CC5104-DADF-31A3-B28D-4D9E00435EB7]@ 0xffffff7f817c9000->0xffffff7f817d4fff
                dependency: com.apple.iokit.IOUSBFamily(5.1.0)[71AF5A29-1AE2-3812-A0FF-96DD1CC6534D]@0xffff ff7f80848000
                dependency: com.apple.iokit.IOStorageFamily(1.7.2)[40D4AB21-F11E-3C6C-8883-3554F93A251F]@0x ffffff7f807aa000
                dependency: com.apple.iokit.IOSCSIArchitectureModelFamily(3.2.1)[5948254C-CBA8-34E3-B5B4-57 5E7D4C7BD1]@0xffffff7f808c1000
    BSD process name corresponding to current thread: kernel_task
    Mac OS version:
    11G63
    Kernel version:
    Darwin Kernel Version 11.4.2: Thu Aug 23 16:25:48 PDT 2012; root:xnu-1699.32.7~1/RELEASE_X86_64
    Kernel UUID: FF3BB088-60A4-349C-92EA-CA649C698CE5
    System model name: Xserve3,1 (Mac-F223BEC8)
    System uptime in nanoseconds: 86462620463
    last loaded kext at 86345993578: com.apple.iokit.IOUSBAttachedSCSI          1.0.2 (addr 0xffffff7f817c9000, size 49152)
    loaded kexts:
    com.Cycling74.driver.Soundflower          1.5.1
    com.apple.iokit.IOUSBAttachedSCSI          1.0.2
    com.apple.driver.AppleUSBCDC          4.1.22
    com.apple.driver.AppleHWSensor          1.9.5d0
    com.apple.filesystems.autofs          3.0
    com.apple.driver.AudioAUUC          1.59
    com.apple.driver.AppleTyMCEDriver          1.0.2d2
    com.apple.driver.AppleUpstreamUserClient          3.5.9
    com.apple.driver.AppleMCCSControl          1.0.33
    com.apple.GeForce          7.3.2
    com.apple.iokit.IOUserEthernet          1.0.0d1
    com.apple.iokit.IOBluetoothSerialManager          4.0.8f17
    com.apple.Dont_Steal_Mac_OS_X          7.0.0
    com.apple.driver.AudioIPCDriver          1.2.3
    com.apple.driver.AppleBMC          2.0.2
    com.apple.driver.ApplePolicyControl          3.1.33
    com.apple.driver.ACPI_SMC_PlatformPlugin          5.0.0d8
    com.apple.driver.AppleLPC          1.6.0
    com.apple.driver.Apple16X50ACPI          3.0
    com.apple.driver.AppleSEP          1.5.0
    com.apple.driver.XsanFilter          404
    com.apple.iokit.SCSITaskUserClient          3.2.1
    com.apple.AppleFSCompression.AppleFSCompressionTypeDataless          1.0.0d1
    com.apple.AppleFSCompression.AppleFSCompressionTypeZlib          1.0.0d1
    com.apple.BootCache          33
    com.apple.iokit.IOAHCIBlockStorage          2.1.0
    com.apple.iokit.IOAHCISerialATAPI          2.0.3
    com.apple.driver.AppleFWOHCI          4.9.0
    com.apple.driver.AppleUSBHub          5.1.0
    com.apple.driver.AppleIntel8254XEthernet          2.1.3b1
    com.apple.driver.Intel82574L          2.2.0b3
    com.apple.driver.AppleRAIDCard          209
    com.apple.driver.AppleEFINVRAM          1.6.1
    com.apple.driver.AppleAHCIPort          2.3.1
    com.apple.driver.AppleUSBEHCI          5.1.0
    com.apple.driver.AppleUSBUHCI          5.1.0
    com.apple.driver.AppleRTC          1.5
    com.apple.driver.AppleHPET          1.7
    com.apple.driver.AppleACPIButtons          1.5
    com.apple.driver.AppleSMBIOS          1.9
    com.apple.driver.AppleACPIEC          1.5
    com.apple.driver.AppleAPIC          1.6
    com.apple.driver.AppleIntelCPUPowerManagementClient          195.0.0
    com.apple.nke.applicationfirewall          3.2.30
    com.apple.security.quarantine          1.4
    com.apple.security.TMSafetyNet          8
    com.apple.driver.AppleIntelCPUPowerManagement          195.0.0
    com.apple.iokit.IOUSBMassStorageClass          3.0.3
    com.apple.driver.AppleUSBComposite          5.0.0
    com.apple.kext.triggers          1.0
    com.apple.driver.AppleSMBusController          1.0.10d0
    com.apple.nvidia.nv50hal          7.3.2
    com.apple.nvidia.nvGK100hal          7.3.2
    com.apple.iokit.IOSurface          80.0.2
    com.apple.nvidia.nvGF100hal          7.3.2
    com.apple.NVDAResman          7.3.2
    com.apple.iokit.IOFireWireIP          2.2.5
    com.apple.driver.AppleHDAController          2.2.5a5
    com.apple.iokit.IOHDAFamily          2.2.5a5
    com.apple.iokit.IOAudioFamily          1.8.6fc18
    com.apple.kext.OSvKernDSPLib          1.3
    com.apple.driver.AppleGraphicsControl          3.1.33
    com.apple.iokit.IONDRVSupport          2.3.4
    com.apple.iokit.IOGraphicsFamily          2.3.4
    com.apple.driver.IOPlatformPluginLegacy          5.0.0d8
    com.apple.driver.AppleSMBusPCI          1.0.10d0
    com.apple.driver.IOPlatformPluginFamily          5.1.1d6
    com.apple.driver.Apple16X50Serial          3.0
    com.apple.iokit.IOSerialFamily          10.0.5
    com.apple.driver.AppleSMC          3.1.3d10
    com.apple.driver.AppleFileSystemDriver          13
    com.apple.iokit.IOSCSIMultimediaCommandsDevice          3.2.1
    com.apple.iokit.IOBDStorageFamily          1.7
    com.apple.iokit.IODVDStorageFamily          1.7.1
    com.apple.iokit.IOCDStorageFamily          1.7.1
    com.apple.iokit.IOFireWireFamily          4.4.8
    com.apple.iokit.IOUSBUserClient          5.0.0
    com.apple.iokit.IONetworkingFamily          2.1
    com.apple.iokit.IOSCSIParallelFamily          2.5.1
    com.apple.iokit.IOSCSIBlockCommandsDevice          3.2.1
    com.apple.iokit.IOSCSIArchitectureModelFamily          3.2.1
    com.apple.iokit.IOAHCIFamily          2.0.8
    com.apple.driver.AppleEFIRuntime          1.6.1
    com.apple.driver.AppleKeyswitch          1.0.5f4
    com.apple.iokit.IOUSBFamily          5.1.0
    com.apple.iokit.IOHIDFamily          1.7.1
    com.apple.iokit.IOSMBusFamily          1.1
    com.apple.security.sandbox          177.11
    com.apple.kext.AppleMatch          1.0.0d1
    com.apple.driver.DiskImages          331.7
    com.apple.iokit.IOStorageFamily          1.7.2
    com.apple.driver.AppleKeyStore          28.18
    com.apple.driver.AppleACPIPlatform          1.5
    com.apple.iokit.IOPCIFamily          2.7
    com.apple.iokit.IOACPIFamily          1.4
    Model: Xserve3,1, BootROM XS31.0081.B04, 4 processors, Quad-Core Intel Xeon, 2.26 GHz, 6 GB, SMC 1.43f4
    Graphics: NVIDIA GeForce GT 120, NVIDIA GeForce GT 120, PCIe, 256 MB
    Memory Module: CPUA/A1, 2 GB, DDR3 ECC, 1066 MHz, 0x80CE, 0x4D33393142353637334448312D4346382020
    Memory Module: CPUA/A2, 2 GB, DDR3 ECC, 1066 MHz, 0x80CE, 0x4D33393142353637334448312D4346382020
    Memory Module: CPUA/A3, 2 GB, DDR3 ECC, 1066 MHz, 0x80CE, 0x4D33393142353637334448312D4346382020
    Network Service: Ethernet 1, Ethernet, en0
    PCI Card: NVIDIA GeForce GT 120, sppci_displaycontroller, MXM-Slot
    Serial ATA Device: OPTIARC DVD RW AD-5670S
    Serial ATA Device: APPLE SSD SM128, 121.33 GB
    USB Device: Frontpanel Controller, apple_vendor_id, 0x8261, 0x3d100000 / 2

    Quick summary:
    It fails on all ports
    It fails on multiple xServes
    It fails on 10.7.5 and 10.8.5 both fully patched and up to date.
    It works on iMac 10.7.5 fully patched. Appears to be xServes only that are affected.
    It will kernel panic the OS on boot, seconds in.
    It does not affect the early boot screen.
    It is possible to boot from the drive using a 10.7 installer image.
    It works with 10.6.8
    It is most likely USB kexts that are the problem. It may work with older versions of 10.7/10.8. It might be possible to copy kexts from older to newer versions and get it working.
    I recommend everyone affected to log fault with Apple, along with the details of the drives. It looks to be multiple model drives and multiple drive vendors.

  • Getting a Mini DisplayPort to VGA Adapter & Monitor to Work with an Xserve

    First let me say that I'm very new to Xserve's and OS X Server and any help is greatly appreciated.
    I have an Xserve with a connected Mini DisplayPort to VGA Adapter and a confirmed working VGA monitor. There is also a keyboard and mouse plugged into the front USB port of the Xserve. The internal SSD has been formatted clean.
    I've been trying to boot up from the optical drive on the Xserve using the 10.6 DVD. I use the front panel/system identifier button to boot up and I make sure enclosure lock is unlocked. Each time I try to boot up, the monitor stays off and the DVD is spit out.
    I eventually got the DVD to stay in, and the screen showed the grey screen with black apple and the spinning black circle on the bottom. However, after a few minutes the screen turned orange in color. Using Screen Sharing, it looked fine. I tried a second VGA monitor, but that still didn't do it.
    So with the DVD still in, I stay connected via Screen Sharing and begin the installation process remotely, thinking Snow Leopard will recognize the monitor eventually. Well, 10.6 is now fully installed, but still no working monitor.
    I then decided to try the Mini DisplayPort to VGA Firmware Update. I download and run the installer, but it tells me, "The Updater could not find a Mini DisplayPort to VGA Adapter to update."
    How can I possibly get this monitor working?
    Thanks in advance.
    Message was edited by: nappy

    Just ran in to this myself -- Nehalem Xserve running 10.6.2 Server with an MiniDisplayPort to VGA adapter connected to an Avocent Switchview 1000 KVM. Took the server offline to install RAM and after rebooting, no video. Oddly enough, the KVM's LEDs showed a display connected but Apple System Profiler showed no adapters connected to the video card. Nothing seemingly worked -- rebooting, shutdown/restart, and/or hot-plugging the adapter made no difference. I also tried a second MiniDisplayPort adapter to no avail.
    Note that the MiniDisplayPort to VGA Firmware update had already been applied to BOTH adapters prior to this issue appearing.
    What restored video output on our system: reboot from the Snow Leopard Server install media, video reappears over the adapter, and after that I can reboot from the SSD boot drive running 10.6.2 Server with video output working over the MiniDisplayPort to VGA adapter.

  • Two Xserves running 10.5 Server and setting up DNS...

    Hello.
    I have two Xserves (a G5 and a new Intel), both with fresh installs of 10.5 Server on them.
    Xserve #1 not going to be hosting any external services (FTP, web, email) and only housing internal, mission critical & confidential data (the server is set up with a mirror RAID on the OS drive as well as mirror RAID on the storage drives + nightly tape backups for offsite storage). Right now there are no plans for enabling iCal on this server as we're trying to keep the server as basic as possible (as we can afford zero downtime on this server), but if the initial setup of 10.5 requires configuration at first run to allow this type of thing, I'd like to deal with it now so as to keep my options open (as I know iCal on 10.5 requires Open Directory enabled).
    Xserve #2 is going to host FTP (for external clients) and internal file sharing for the design/production department (basically, for transferring files back and fourth between departments, so no data via this share will be "critical" as it's only temporarily on the server and will always exist in other locations). Even though this server will not host "critical" data, it will share the same backup/RAID scheme as Xserve #1.
    So, I'm curious as to how I set up DNS in this situation (so we can associate a domain name to our static IP address). We already have our main domain setup via 3rd-party hosting service (for web & email as we do not want to bring these services in-house), but we're purchasing a second domain that will be associated with company (via a static IP, so we can give a domain name instead of IP address for people needing to connect to the FTP server, make it easier for employees to remember the address for remote connections, etc.).
    Because Xserve #2 is going to be hosting FTP, would it make sense to setup DNS on this server and not set it up on Xserve #1? Also, and this could just be me being paranoid, but because Xserve #1 will be housing "critical & confidential" data I want to eliminate as much contact with the outside world as possible with this server, so this is another reason I feel Xserve #2 should have DNS running instead.
    Oh, and not sure if this makes any difference, but between the WAN and the LAN is a SonicWALL firewall and currently it deal with port forwarding, etc. depending on what services are being requested from the WAN (ie. remote machine connections, FileMaker remote connections, etc.).
    Any advice would be appreciated!
    Regards,
    Kristin.

    There's a couple of things in your post I don't understand:
    the server is set up with a mirror RAID on the OS drive as well as mirror RAID on the storage drives
    How are you doing this? Both XServes support only three internal drives and two mirrors require 4 drives. Where does the fourth drive come into play?
    I'm curious as to how I set up DNS in this situation
    There are numerous ways of doing this, but with a single static IP address your best bet is to leave DNS where it is - managed by your hosting provider. Just add a record in the domain zone (e.g. ftp.yourdomain.com) that has the IP address of the public interface your SonicWall firewall. You don't need a separate domain for this. You also don't need to setup internal DNS for this (although you may need internal DNS if you're running Open Directory.
    Because Xserve #2 is going to be hosting FTP, would it make sense to setup DNS on this server and not set it up on Xserve #1?
    Assuming you're referring to setting up a DNS server - use them BOTH. Make one of the servers the primary server (I'd pick the internal-only server for this) and set the other server to be a slave (so it copies all the zone data from the primary server). That way you have a replica of the data to provide additional resilience.

  • Switching to Xserver/Xserve RAID

    Hi boys and girls...
    I was looking for a little assistance in switching over to Xserve. Let me give you some background info first.
    Were a small studio in London, with only 11 people in-house and the majority working externally whether free-lance, from home or from another country etc. Were mostly Mac based, though 4 machines are those little beige pc things all running XP 2002. At the minute its 1 G5 and a collection of G4 tower's and G4 power book's, G4 cube's and so on. Were all connected to a G4 server running Mac OS X Server 10.2.8 with a very small dual 120GB HD raid thing running Retrospect.
    Our problem is, this system was set up some time ago and were starting to outgrow it.
    What were looking for is a way to backup all of our current work and archive all of our old work. Most users like to work directly off the server as theres so much file sharing between the macs and pc's, directly updating files so there isnt any duplication etc.
    First question, is it possible (and a good/bad idea ?) to have 10-15 users working directly from a Mac server, that stores the archived work for users to reference and also current work which is backed up to tape and duplicated (as we currently have) to another HD?
    Secondly, Is the ideal way to be running things? Is there a more efficent way?
    Finally, what kind of spec should we be looking at? There's such a huge difference between servers, while were willing to invest, we dont want to go crazy (maybe a little) on costs.
    I look forward to your responses and thank you in advance
    Marcus

    There are certainly some drawbacks with your current setup that mean you should make some changes.
    In general, there's nothing wrong with working with files directly off the server, however, 10.2.8 has some issues with multiple users accessing the same files at the same time, so you should look to move to 10.4 ASAP to address that issue, regardless of any other changes you make.
    I am assuming that the remote users don't work this way - uploading/download files as appropriate - it would be painful to work off the server remotely.
    The only real disadvantage with working with files directly off the server is that if a file is changed erroneously and saved, there's no easy backup.
    If the file was copied to the local drive and saved, it's easy to roll back to the previous version by re-copying it from the server, but if that change is saved directly to the server the only rollback involves pulling out Retrospect.
    The other change that would make a difference is installing a gigabit switch and connecting the server to it. Even if all the host systems don't have gigabit ethernet, the extra bandwidth to the server will definitely help.
    As for a new server, 10-15 file sharing users are not likely to stress the server, do you don't need a top-of-the-line configuration.
    You should first decide how much disk space you need. With 500GB drives, the XServe can handle up to 1.5TB on its own, without any additional XServe RAID. However, you might want to consider RAID (using RAID you're limited to 1TB of RAID 5 storage, or 500GB of mirrored storage in the box).
    In addition to your current data usage, consider using an online disk backup where multiple copies of the data is stored on the server itself before (or in addition to) backing up to tape.
    While tapes offer several long-term archive advantages, they really don't work so well for quick restores of a file or two. Having a snapshot of the last couple of days data online makes it trivial to step back a day or so without having to resort to tapes. This may mean, though, that your 100GB of data requires 200 or 300GB of disk space.
    If you do decide than an XServe RAID is the right solution, consider getting it right-sized from the get-go rather than buying it small (e.g. 4 drives) and adding later. While it can be done, adding drives to an existing array is a PITA.
    If you do opt for an XServe RAID, and you don't currently have any rack-mounted equipment, consider using a PowerMac G5 as your server rather than an XServe. While similar in terms of performance, the PowerMac can work out cheaper depending on configuration.

  • Questions on new XServe

    Apologies for the lengthy post.
    We're looking to update an older dual G5 XServe to a new Nehalem model. Our current server handles file sharing (AFP & SMB) and is our OD Master (we have 5 other XServes). It's connected via Fibre to an XServe Raid configured with 4 active drives (250 GB each) and a standby backup drive. It total we have @ 700 GB of usable storage. We have a cloned system drive in the machine, and another offsite. We also have extensive Firewire data backups, including offsite.
    We're looking to replace this with a Dual Quad core machine but I'm still mulling over configurations. As the XServe RAID has been removed from the support list, I'm considering removing it from the equation and perhaps just use it for some non critical archiving. It has been wonderfully reliable in the 5 odd years we've had it.
    For the new server I was thinking 3x 1TB drives (& Raid Card) which I suspect would give @ 2TB of storage (more than enough for us - the 700 GB is already adequate but if we're going to upgrade we may as well expand a bit as well).
    And now for the questions...
    Would I be correct in assuming I could expect similar/better performance from the new drives as opposed to the old XServe RAID? Will the G5 XServe's Fibre Card fit the new XServe?
    Are the Solid State Drives user swappable? I was thinking perhaps a second SS drive with a cloned system as a backup.
    Can a boot partition be setup on this RAID setup as a backup to the Solid State Drive? What's the general feeling with regards SS Drives? Are they worth considering or should I just stick to 'conventional' technology?
    Will these XServes boot OK from a firewire device?
    Any advice, suggestions or personal experiences would be appreciated.
    many thanks

    Would I be correct in assuming I could expect similar/better performance from the new drives as opposed to the old XServe RAID?
    Comparable direct-attached storage (DAS) disk storage tends to be faster than SAN storage, yes.
    And you can connect DAS via SAS or SAS RAID PCIe controller, an older PCI-X controller, or via FireWire or USB buses. PCIe disk interconnects will be the fastest path, and USB the slowest.
    Here, I'd tend to consider the Apple RAID controller or a PCIe RAID controller if I needed extra bays.
    Will the G5 XServe's Fibre Card fit the new XServe?
    I don't know. That probably depends on the card, but it's certainly worth a try. Ensure you have the right slot in the new box; you've probably got a PCI-X FC SAN card here, and you'd thus need a PCI-X riser on the new box. Or punt and get a newer PCIe FC SAN card. Put another way, I'd ask Apple to confirm your particular card will work when carried forward, or wait for another responder here.
    Are the Solid State Drives user swappable? I was thinking perhaps a second SS drive with a cloned system as a backup.
    The Xserve drive bays are user swappable.
    Do you need SSD? If you're on your current box and are not already I/O bound, I'd guess not. And the newer HDD drives are faster, too.
    Can a boot partition be setup on this RAID setup as a backup to the Solid State Drive? What's the general feeling with regards SS Drives? Are they worth considering or should I just stick to 'conventional' technology?
    There is flexibility in what you boot your Xserve box off of, yes.
    I've been using SSD off and on for around twenty years in its various incarnations. Back when there was battery-backed DSSI drives (don't ask) and SCSI-1 RAM-based SSD gear.
    Whether SSD is appropriate really depends on what you need for I/O rates. An SSD is one piece of a puzzle of gaining faster I/O, and some of the other available pieces can be faster disks, striping (RAID-0), faster controllers, or faster controllers with bigger caches, or more and larger host caches. If your applications are disk-bound, definitely consider it. But if you're not being limited by the disk I/O speeds for your box, then SSD doesn't (usually) make as much sense.
    (There are other cases where SSD can be appropriate. SSD is more tolerant of getting bounced around than HDD, which is why you see it in laptops and in rough-service and mil-spec environments such as aircraft-mounted computer servers. With an HDD, one good head-slap can ruin your whole day. But I digress.)
    Will these XServes boot OK from a firewire device?
    AFAIK, yes. I haven't had to do that, but that's been a longstanding feature of Xserve boxes.
    Any advice, suggestions or personal experiences would be appreciated.
    I'd relax; the Nehalem-class processors are screaming-fast boxes, and with massively better I/O paths than Intel has had available before.
    Ensure your LAN is Gigabit Ethernet or IEEE 802.11n 5 GHz dual-slot, too. Upgrade from any existing 100 Mb LAN and from pre-n WiFi networking.

  • Xserve - A week of uncertainty

    A week since the announcement and I see no clear guidance from Apple. My contemplative confusion is turning into apprehension for the loss of what we had and a sense of uncertainty about the products that my business thrives on supporting. Is Apple not aware of how Xserves are used by their customers? Is Apple not aware of the gaping hole they have created in their product line? Or far worse, is Apple completely abandoning OS X Server and in turn the pro market?
    I am not a doom and gloom type of person but the impact that this decision is having on my business and on my customer's perception of Apple could drive anyone to the brink of despair. Let me share with the community some of the conversations that I had this past week.
    *Customer 1: North America's largest manufacturer of residential and commercial roofing materials*
    _What they have:_ 12 TB Xsan supporting three Final Cut edit bays with a StorNext client in the data center for integrated backup to a CommVault backup system. (I should point out that we also support a graphic design department as well so there are more than 3 Macs in this company.) The Xsan is built on two G5 Xserves and 2 Xserve RAIDs with integration help from internal IT, including the fibre channel department, networking, backup, and others. The solution has enabled the video department to dramatically increase workflow, speed encoding through the use of a qmaster cluster, and improve backup integration with the enterprise CommVault system. The Xsan solution revolutionized the workflow of the department in so many ways that it is difficult to quantify.
    _What they need now:_ To expand the volume. They are running over 90% capacity (yes, I know it is dangerous). The Xsan deployment above was done as a proof of concept as it took existing hardware (previously used as departmental file servers) and turned it into a now business critical solution. They have filled the volume in less than 8 months and are now begging for more. The proof of concept resulted in proof that Xsan is a superior product in providing services and features found no where else in the video market. Xsan, with its speed, function, integration with other products, and Spotlight makes the product indispensable. The integration into the corporate Active Directory domain and the ability to collect systems into a render cluster are simple and effective.
    +What do we do?+ The existing Xserves are G5s so we are stuck at Leopard and Xsan 2.1.1. Now we have a real tough decision ahead of us. Do we buy Xserves and run with Xsan despite the announcement? And if we do, what is the future of Xsan beyond Jan 31 without a rack mount server. In this customer, rack space is a pricy commodity. Every U counts and I can not consume 12 U for 3 people, regardless of the benefits. Apple has a product, both hardware and software, that satisfies this customers need so well that they are begging for more of it. But can I give them the solution they are begging for? Can I sell them a couple Xserves and run the solution for the near term? But what are my future prospects? What do I do in three years or less from now when they run out of room again? What is my roadmap in the absence of true server hardware? Is there even a replacement for Xsan? Sure MetaSan is looking interesting... but no Spotlight. Sure I can run a StorNext solution... but no Spotlight. We can move to Windows storage, but then I am back on Ethernet file services and no Spotlight instead of a shared file system. If I stand on this hill and say "go with the Xserves as it is the best we have right now" and then there is an announcement from Apple about "one more thing," then my reputation is in question.
    *Customer 2: NYC Advertising Agency that is 99.99% Mac based, including server architecture*
    _What they have:_ We walked into this customer for our first service call back in February 2004. We found the G4 Xserve we sold them in October 2002 mounted on a wall by another consultant (oh the horror). Within two visits, I had closed all the security holes, implemented OD and single sign on, and started a relationship with the customer that grew from 12 employees, 1 G4 Xserve, and 10 Macs to 120+ employees, 3 Intel Xserves, and 120+ Macs. The Xserves support traditional print design as well as a video, new media, and development departments. Open Directory powers the organization and all Mac clients, over 120 systems, are joined to the domain and enjoy single sign on, centralized management via MCX, and unified access across all services including VPN, groupware (through Kerio), and more.
    _What they need:_ This customer is growing. We just upgraded their network backbone to 10GigE, replaced the tape library with an LTO5 40 slot, and added another Active array. They expect 160 users by the end of 1Q 2011. This equals more Macs, more storage requirements and more reliance on OS X Server and the Xserve. In addition, we have had the discussion with them regarding Xsan for the video department. This was a very compelling solution that they were taking a serious look. But now, they are shaken by the announcement.
    _What do we do?_ And I ask the community.... How would you respond when this customer asks, "Does this mean we have to switch to Active Directory?" Yes, they really asked me that question. My answer was that the announcement in no way devalues what they have. But I do understand their concern for the future. What do they do in a year? How about 2 years? This is a company running COMPLETELY on Apple hardware and software solutions. Where do we go from here?
    *Customer 3: Fortune 500 Retailer of Domestic Merchandise and Home Furnishings*
    _What they have:_ In January of 2003, we installed the first Mac in this company. A single G4 tower running Classic applications because the "patient 0" demanded a Mac as part of her accepting employment. Today, this company has over 100 Macintosh systems and three Xserves in three different states. Macs are in the IT department and we went from the platform of distrust to a platform that is a peer of Windows and Unix, including at the server level. The first Xserve was deployed in 2005. The second was installed in 2006. And the final one in 2008. All three are still in active production today and provide critical file services for over 100 Mac users and many Windows users. The servers are all bound to Active Directory, participate in enterprise backup, are monitored by internal IT via SNMP, and provide unparalleled uptime and performance.
    _What the need now:_ They are running out of space. No, they ran out of space a long time ago. In October we started the process of proposing upgrades to both the Xserves and the storage to greatly enhance the solution and expand it to cover more departments and likely more Macs. Two of the servers are G5 Xserves so Snow Leopard is out of the question. They were planning on buying two new Xserves and new storage. But as of today, the talks are off. It appears that we are going to lose this business to a Windows storage solution. Farewell Mac servers. Farewell Spotlight searching. Farewell simple management of the Mac systems.
    _What do we do?_ What is our argument here? We have none. In light of the announcement, I no longer have a viable solution to offer this customer. The Mac Pro is not a solution. They need more storage and they need a device that fits deployment requirements. The Mini does not do this? How do I get 10+ TB of storage connected and how do I support 100+ concurrent users?
    *Customer 4: US Branch of Major Magazine Publisher that is 99.99% Mac, including server architecture*
    _What they have:_ This customer is the poster child for Xserves. They have 11 Xserves, including a G4 still in active use. At their peak, we were running 16 Apple Xserve RAIDs (these have mostly been replaced by Actives). These Xserves run file services, FTP, Mail (Kerio), automation, Open Directory, offsite replication, and much much more. And here is the kicker! We deployed them in May 2006 running 10.4.6! The last time the primary cluster was touched was January 2009 when we upgraded to 10.4.11. Yes! There are 7 of the 11 servers still running 10.4.11! And do you know how often we service that cluster? 4 times a year. That is it. There is no downtime. There are no problems. This is an environment of about 450 users (all Mac) working directly from servers on multiple shifts. All machines are bound to OD and we are using MCX, Kerio Mail Server, UTS, NetInstall, and much more in this environment. And the whole thing is managed by a staff of 2 technicians. Oh, and in 2007 we built a dedicated datacenter for the Xserves, including proper power, cooling, and fire prevention. This set the foundation for a 10 GigE backbone and all servers operating with aggregated links to stacked edges switches with EAPS ring failover. This environment is a model of enterprise deployment of Apple hardware rivaling any Windows deployment out there.
    _What they need:_ The customer is currently rolling out workstation replacements company wide. These units are 10.6.x. The 10.4.11 server are doing fine but it would be nice to unify and get all the MCX stuff working without the hacks. Purchasing new Xserves was a planned project for the beginning of next year.
    _What do we do?_ This is the one customer in which we will likely still push the Xserve before it is no longer available. The nature of the business and the cyclical nature of upgrade cycles can likely allow us to operate on 10.6.x at the client and server for at least 4 years. So despite what Apple is doing, we may be able to keep the dream alive in this one customer. But in February will we be standing with egg on our face for a foolish recommendation?
    *Customer 5: Fortune 100 Insurance Company*
    _What they have:_ We support Mac departments in 4 states. Two of the departments are running Xsans. These are obviously driven by Xserves that have been embraced by corporate IT. In corporate America, projects take time to plan and approve. The Xsan expansion project has been in the works most of the year. It has been approved is now ready to start placing orders. But we are clearly caught in a tough position.
    _What they need:_ More storage! And InnerPool from Active. InnerPool will go down in history as the greatest product that never will be. The success of Xsan in these two departments almost can not be measured. The undeniable reality is that the solutions is a wild success and the departments want more.
    _What do we do?_ The word from Active is that InnerPool is dead and will never reach a customer. The Xserve is no longer. Yes we can buy it and yes it is approved. But I have the same uncertainty as listed above. Great, I deploy Xserves and Xsan today. But what is its future? And without InnerPool I has inefficient LUN carving.
    Conclusions:
    I am sure that my scenarios are shared by many in the consulting and IT fields. Over this past week I've struggled to understand Apple's decision to discontinue the Xserve. I've struggled to ease the concerns of my customers. I've struggled to find the correct message to tell customers in this time of uncertainty. I've struggled to understand what my company will do to fill the void left by the absence of the Xserve. And, most troubling, I've struggled to understand what the loss of the Xserve will do to Apple's enterprise solutions including the future of OS X Server and the traditional markets Apple supports.
    I understand that on the surface this is the retirement of a hardware product. I understand the basic argument that the product was not a powerful seller. But being an Apple Reseller and ACN, I also know that no one is pushing Xserves other than us. The Apple retail store is incapable of pushing the Xserve as a product. And please, real businesses are not going to Apple retail. Does anyone walk up to a person selling iPods and have a discussion about real business needs? And why was I never able to find the Xserve on store.apple.com's home page? If you want to sell a product, you really need to let your customers know it exists.
    I understand that Apple is all about the one thing. They always have been. When the iMac saved Apple it was the hot item. Then the iPod replaced it. Then the phone. Now the iPad. Apple focuses like a laser on the one thing that is big. But what they are missing is that there is a loyal group of customers in content creation that are only able to do their work because of the power, ease of use, and products that make up the "pro/enterprise" segment of Apple's business. This includes the Mac Pro, the Xserve, OS X Server, Xsan, Final Cut, and more. What is the future of all these products? The Mac Mini Server is surely not the future.
    Again, this is speculation driven by lack of guidance and leadership. But if my customer reaction is an indication, the inability to deploy a server class device means the inability to run OS X Server. This will mean that all of the duties found in OS X Server will be replaced by other systems. This means no OD, no AFP, no NetBoot/NetInstall, no iCal, no Xsan, no qMaster, no MCX, no synchronized home folders. The list goes on and on. And by translation, this likely means the decline of the viability of Final Cut deployments and even content creation in general. If we are going backward to isolated workstations and the inability to deploy space efficient direct to broadcast solutions, the business will be going elsewhere. In the space of a single Mac Pro, I could deploy and entire 50 TB Xsan with 1U left over (2 Xserves, 2 Active arrays, 2 FC switches, 1 MD switch). Apple is not offering progress and this is not a better solution.
    When Apple retired the Xserve RAID, Apple provide the community with a better solution. The Xserve RAID was a product of its time and time marched on. Apple was not interested in maintaining a peripheral product and rightly left the business to organizations specializing in mass storage. By bowing out of the segment, the community got faster devices with more redundancy. The difference then was that Apple said, "hey, we are not going to make the Xserve RAID anymore but here is something better." Today, they are saying, "hey, we are not making the Xserve any more and we have nothing better to tell you."
    Yet, the Xserve RAID was a peripheral. It was not a host system running Apple's OS. For the company that is known for making the whole widget, how does this announcement sit? We are now missing the hardware component of the whole widget and the options, virtualization or licensing to third party hardware vender, goes in direct grain to everything Apple has done.
    I know others in the community have covered this. The hardware Apple is offering is not a replacement. Honestly... A Mac Pro that has a hardware problem is a minimum of 2 days of lost operations for a company. Take the power supply. On an Xserve, you have a second one and if you were smart enough to get the spares kit, you can replace it in less than 1 minute with one hand tied behind your back. No downtime. No service disruption. Now, the Mac Pro... There is no spares kit. That means if the unit goes down you call Apple to diagnose the problem (or good golly you bring it to the Apple Store?), they send the part to your closest Apple Authorized Repair Center, and then they arrange for an onsite repair. This process will put you out of business for 2 days minimum. Unacceptable.
    I am not sure who Apple thinks their server customers are. But the customers I support will never be satisfied with the Mini Server. Apple targets the Mini Server to SMB. Well, let's assume that the SMB has 10 iMacs. The iMacs have a collective storage capacity of 10 TB. The Mini has 500 GB. How does that help the environment. If we look at Apple's traditional customers running content creation, a single user could fill the server with 100 photoshop files or a few video files. And don't get me started on the expansion issues with the Mini.
    Apple, regardless if the end result is licensing server to another vender for hardware development or allowing virtualization, please open up the communication channel and reassure a shaken industry on what you see as the realistic future of your server products. The guidance of your transition guide is not guidance at all. Please come down from the iPod cloud and understand that you have a lot of customers quavering in uncertainty.
    And finally, if Apple is using the retail stores to provide guidance to the types of businesses that they sell their product to, then they should call us. We have been integrating Macs in enterprise for over a decade. We have Macs in every pharma in the state, many in regulatory roles meeting strict government requirements. We have Macs in insurance, research and development, finance, law, and more. These system meet or exceed HIPPA, SOX, FDA, FTC and other government regulatory requirements. Apple, you are already in the enterprise. Please don't give up on what has taken years to achieve.
    Thank you for reading. We are passionate about the services we offer and strive to give our customers the best possible solutions. Apple has enabled us to do that for a number of years. Now I am concerned. As an ACN employing numerous ACSAs we are concerned with the writing on the wall. Apple, please provide more communication on your intentions.

    Funny you should ask... At about the same time that the Xserve was discontinued, we also lost our channel rep of nearly 14 years. Right now we are not sure who our rep is. I have however, sent this to as many people in Apple that I could think of. And I plan on continuing to reach out to as many as possible.
    The sad reality is that this decision is impacting customer deployments and the future of customer installations. Apple strives for market share and loves to tout those numbers. But the numbers we fought for over these last eight years are going to disappear.
    As much as this impacts our business, we are making up for it in enterprise deployment of systems. We will survive and lead in our geographic area. I do not fear that. But OS X Server is a UNIX server and with it has come all of the benefits of a UNIX system, including legitimacy in a data center. The Intel Xserve cemented this reality because of its hardware configuration and form factor. Yes, we have G4 and G5s still in service. But those are mostly in all Mac shops that understand the benefits and can work around the buzz word limitations. But fortune 100/500 IT departments did not really get on board until the release of the Intel server.
    Still beating the drum to raise awareness. Spread the word and talk to your Apple reps.
    Also, ask about the direction that Apple's Enterprise team is going. If the news I hear is correct, then our fears about all things pro and enterprise going away are likely true.

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