XServe without a rack

Hello Mac Community,
Is is it safe to run an XServe on a flat and stable surface? Does it need to be installed in a rack?
We have a single intel quad core unit, and are waiting for an appropriate time to get a rack installed in the office. However, until then, I would like to set up the machine and start experimenting with it.
Thanks,
Steve Jr.

I'm aware of an Xserve that has been running on a commercial wire shelf for a year or so now out at a customer site. (Seeing it for the first time, it fit on that commercial shelf surprisingly well - sideways.) Wires were zip-tied, etc. Quite the neat installation.
There are small portable racks which can be quite serviceable for these sorts of applications; these can provide mobility and acoustical reduction, depending on the particular model of rack.

Similar Messages

Will Xserve work without a rack?

Before I get all these rants about how stupid this question is let me preface it with a short story:
The owner of my company wants a new server. He asked me which I thought was better: tower or rack mount. I said that the PowerMac doesn't have the service warranty we would expect from a server, and as a desktop, is not really designed to run 24/7 the same way Xserve is. So we configured a new Xserve and it is in the process of being made. He then asked me the question: "will it work without a rack?" Being honest, I said "It would power on, but it's not recommended to run that way because it can't cool properly and it's not physically secure."
Now he tells me we aren't ordering a rack for this $6000 server. Can you please list all the reasons this is NOT going to work, so I can go back to him with a huge rebuttal? It just doesn't seem logical to me to not spend a few hundred dollars to properly secure this very expensive piece of equipment, and I don't have any fight left in me to come up with all the answers on my own.
PowerBook G4 12" 1.5GHz Mac OS X (10.4.7) 5th Gen iPod Video, 1st Gen iPod Nano

He then asked me
the question: "will it work without a rack?" Being
honest, I said "It would power on, but it's not
recommended to run that way because it can't cool
properly and it's not physically secure."
Speaking from my limited experience (18 months) with our Xserve G5: The Xserve does not need top and bottom venting; it cools front to back. A risk, though, will be that it gets shoved back against a wall and thus has poor airflow out the back, and you don't realize until you have done it what a mess of cables comes out the back and why you need the cable management arm (as aggravating as it is when you first use one) to manage the cables.
The Xserve is heavy. It's difficult to walk away with one. The enclosure lock will still work without a rack, but it's not real security anyway, just protection against the drives being bumped out by accident. But an unracked Xserve will be prone to injury and falling off a table, etc. They are BIG and HEAVY. The Intel Xserve is even longer than the Xserve G5 (look at the dimensions).
If the concern is the expense, well, you can build your own rack rather cheaply. I suggest Starcase (http://www.starcase.com), which lets you build a rack of any dimensions - you will probably want at least a 3U or 4U rack for your Xserve - 1U for the Xserve, 1U for a UPS (APC has a nice 1U 1000W UPS and a same-size 750W UPS), 1U for a tape drive and autoloader (you will need to back up all that data), and you might need another few rack units of height. The nice thing about the Starcase rack solution is that, as your rack height needs expand, you can simply get the four corner posts of greater height and grow your rack. Starcase also has side panels, top panels, etc. For custom-height solutions (rather than their pre-bundled standard sizes), see:
http://www.starcase.com/customsteel_rackstore.htm
Check the Starcase prices so you can present your boss with a true picture of the cost. They are built like a tank. I STRONGLY advise that you put your Xserve in a rack; otherwise, it will be very difficult to service when the time comes - and you WILL need service, eventually.
However, note that the Xserve is NOISY. If the Xserve is going to be in an office environment, you will need an acoustical enclosure, such as the XRack Pro. See:
http://www.xrackpro.com/
Very nice, very quiet, and a bit pricy.
Hope this helps.
Russ
Xserve G5 2.0 GHz 2 GB RAM Mac OS X (10.4.8) Apple Hardware RAID, ATTO UL4D, Exabyte VXA-2 1x10 1u

New Xserve in the rack....where do I go from here?

Well, our shiny new (and unexpectedly deep and heavy) Xserve arrived this morning, and has been installed in the rack cabinet at our new premises. I think I need help knowing where to go from here on a couple of points.....
I've been wading through pages of PDF manuals, support pages and forums posts and – to be honest – my head's in a mess!! I'm hoping some of you nice folks out there (Camelot provided some very useful advice in previous posts) could offer me some direction, so I can work out what I need to work out, and understand what I'm doing so I can get this beast up and running.
Having also bought a couple of Netgear GS724T switches, I had planned to setup a 4gbps trunk between the Xserve and the first switch (with a second 4gbps connection between the switches). We will use an Airport Extreme Base Station as our DHCP server, and I will likely assign static IPs to both the switches whilst configuring them for trunk operation. Things are slightly complicated by the fact that our new BT Versatility installation already appears to have a 4-port wireless router bolted on, but I think we can effectively bypass this straight to the AEBS....
In order to use link aggregation (i.e. the 4gbps connection to the Xserve), will I need to configure Server first using only 1 ethernet connection? Can I do this 'headless' – I have installed all the Admin Tools (and documentation!!) on my MacBook Pro.... Also, can I even use link aggregation in a 'basic' Standard Server configuration, or will I need to use Advanced?
We choose to purchase 3x 300Gb 15k SAS drives and therefore also have the RAID card installed. My understanding is that the Server software will be installed in drive 1 (left hand bay), and simply needs 'configured' (did I say 'simply'??!). I also believe I could – without re-installing the OS – changed the setup to RAID5 if I wanted to. I think I need to do this using Disk Utility whilst the Xserve is booted via the install DVD – correct? Can I setup disk mirroring without re-installing, and is the process the same (i.e. boot from DVD, change the setup, re-boot)?
We run Filemaker Server, and I wondered which initial setup option would be optimal – NO raid, with the OS on one drive, and the database file(s) on another; or one big RAID5 volume with everything on it? I guess with 3 internal drives, we could go for a single drive (OS) plus a 2-drive RAID for files (either mirrored or striped for speed). If we bolt on a couple of 500Gb Firewire drives which we have 'spare' that would allow for backups of both volumes.....?
Putting everything into consideration, I want to take 'baby steps' with the setup, until I get my head round everything. Initially, all we need is Filemaker and remote access to our databases (through VPN I guess), although I want to add web/mail/iCal etc..etc.. once we've settled into the new offices.
The whole DNS thing scares me a bit. I can arrange reverse DNS with BT, and point our domain (via FastHosts) to our public IP address so we can run our own Web and Email server. I'm just not convinced this won't be a security vulnerability.....
I'm a long time Mac user, but I've never used Server, and I rarely use Terminal. This new Xserve venture is exciting, but it also feels a bit un-nerving.... and advice, input and further reading suggestions would be gratefully received!
Thanks in advance.

In order to use link aggregation (i.e. the 4gbps connection to the Xserve), will I need to configure Server first using only 1 ethernet connection?
Ahh, setting up Link Aggregation while headless is always a concern since it will affect the network connection you're using to administer the box. It is possible to do, it just takes some planning. If you can, configure the link over the serial port using networksetup, or put a monitor on the server temporarily.
Also, can I even use link aggregation in a 'basic' Standard Server configuration, or will I need to use Advanced?
I believe so - 'basic' vs. 'Advanced' only controls the set of services that are run and simplifies the admin interface somewhat. I don't think it has any effect on the underlying network setup but I might be wrong (I've never used anything but advanced).
I also believe I could – without re-installing the OS – changed the setup to RAID5 if I wanted to
No, that is not possible. Converting to RAID 5 will destroy the current config and reformat the drives. You can migrate to a RAID 1 or RAID 0 array, but not to RAID 5.
Can I setup disk mirroring without re-installing, and is the process the same (i.e. boot from DVD, change the setup, re-boot)?
For simple mirroring you can use RAID Admin's Migrate option to migrate the current single drive to a new mirror on the other two drives. The you can re-use the original drive.
We run Filemaker Server, and I wondered which initial setup option would be optimal
In general, RAID 5 is not recommended for database use - or any other use that requires a lot of random writes, although it does depend on volume - if your traffic is sufficiently light it might not be an issue.
Other than that, for most people the data is most important, so that should be mirrored. It's reasonably easy to reinstall the OS (at least compared to rebuilding all your data.
Putting everything into consideration, I want to take 'baby steps' with the setup.
To start, focus on the disks. Everything else (applications, services, network, etc.) can be reworked easily later on. Not so with the disks.
The whole DNS thing scares me a bit.
Use BT for your public DNS for sure, but you'll definitely benefit from having working internal DNS, and that's pretty easy to manage, at least for small networks.
so what DNS name do I use locally when configuring Server?
You can use anything you like. You can use ourcompany.com - the same as your public domain, but just have to realize that 'server.ourcompany.com' may mean different things depending on whether you're inside your network querying your own DNS server, or external querying BTs (BT will return 12.34.56.78 while your internal DNS would return the 192.168.100.x address).
This confuses me (from setup guide):
Ignore the statement in the setup guide. It's perfectly valid to have 'server.domain.com' hosting email for [email protected].
Do I need to consult our ISP about what DNS name I should give our server
If you're running your own internal DNS then no, not at all.
You only need to involve BT for any externally-available hostnames (and they don't even have to match your internal names - it's fine to have 'server.domain.com' on your internal DNS but no 'server.domain.com' in your public DNS, it just means no one can get to 'server.domain.com' from outside your network.
Filemaker recommends you use the scheduling facility in FMServer for backups, and not system backups
This is absolutely the case - it's hard to make backups of active/open files, especially databases. Any backup takes time - you read the first byte at time 0, but might not get to the last byte until several minutes later - and you have to consider what happens to changes in between (some may be backed up if they happened before the backup reached that part of the file, others might not, leading to an inconsistent file).
Filemaker's backup method ensures you have a valid backup of the data.
I'm now thinking that mirroring the OS on drive 2 might be a good idea, whilst storing Filemaker files in a 'Databases' folder on drive 3 (which is backed up my FMServer schedule). Other 'Shared' folder(s) on drive 3 could be backed up via Time Machine to an external FW800 drive......
This really depends on the frequency of change in your database. If it's mostly reads and not many inserts/updates, then reverting to yesterdays backup might not be a problem, but if your data changes constantly it might not be as good.

XServe in XrackPro2 Rack Temps: Need Other Owner Advice!!

So as part of a new network deployment which mandated that the X-Serve (Dual Ghz Intel (2 X 2cores) and X-Serve (7TB) be in the same room as clients, we purchased an XRackPro2 6U. We have installed a Gigabit Switch, Fiber Switch, Xserve, and XServe Raid. We're noticing that the temps with the door closed are 10 degrees warmer than with the door open.
Door Close
Left Inlet 84 Degree F
Right Inlet 77 Degree F
And the fans are 8200 In and 4800 Out Across the CPUS
With the door closed the Inlet temp jumps to 95 and Fans to 12000 and this is with the server under NO load.
What are other users of this rack seeing? The room is climate controlled to 72 degrees F.

How close are the front of the Xserves to the door? The airflow of the Xserves is front to back so you need some clearance in front of them or you can get a "dead spot" where air flows around the unit but not to the front of the Xserve. I think the high inlet temperature is a sign that the air is circulating around inside the unit rather than getting good in-out flow.
If you have removed the extra insulation so the unit is as open as it can be and the Xserves are at the same level as the exhaust fans I'm not sure what else there is to do. Some people advocate filling any empty slots with the 1U blank faces to restrict clear front to back flow except through the servers but I'm not sure how much I believe that really helps.
I have used both of the bigger units (12 and 24U) cases and they do run cooler with the door open but they shouldn't vary that much. One other warning - don't leave the back open with the front closed for any amount of time because opening the back moves the exhaust fans away while the front flow is still constricted.
My $.02,
=Tod

How to boot linux on xserve without macos on it?

I have xserve 3.1. With installed centos 6.4 on it and ewrithing was fine before I try to format 1tb hdd with mac os x serer on it. When i manege to formate hdd with mac os x server it doesn't boot to grub like before. I have just black scren affter booting and nothing else. I hae tryed many things, give to kernel some noefi modes etc but in all cases i have no booting to linux. Please help me with this.

I could boot linux on Miix 2 following the precedures in this page. http://liliputing.com/2013/10/booting-ubuntu-asus-transformer-book-t100.html
I could also install arch linux to its internal SSD.
The problem is that the device drivers have not been fully supported yet.
I hope this link will be also helpfut to you. http://www.jfwhome.com/2014/03/07/perfect-ubuntu-or-other-linux-on-the-asus-transformer-book-t100/
good luck
Tad

How to boot PPC Xserve without an internal cd-rom?

I can't believe there's no cd-rom on this server.
Is there any method to boot this thing using an external cd-rom drive?
Trying to install Linux on it.
I've tried Firewire cd-rom, USB2 cdrom, Netboot (netboot almost worked).
Does Apple sell a kit that will add a cd-rom to this box?
I'd like to tell you what it is, but there's no model # anywhere on it. ***.
It's got one hard disk, no cd-rom, and on the back label it says "2GHZ DP/512MB/80GB ADM
There appears to be a space for a cd-drive, but it obviously requires a special ribbon cable to work, and it's not there.

Hi ppcosx_nocdrom-
Greetings and welcome to the Apple Discussion boards
Do you have access to another Mac? If so you could try FireWire Target Disk Mode: How to use FireWire TDM with list of machines
A FW CDRom should work if the unit is not locked and presuming the FireWire bus is not damaged.
Luck-
-DaddyPaycheck

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.

FCS Compressor issues - Quartz Extreme not loading on headless XServe

Hi,
I am running FCS on a OS X Leopard Server Intel XServe...installed a Quartz Extreme GPU (an old stock nVidia 7300 taken from a Mac Pro) to meet the specs. Everything worked fine. However I want to run the system headless - it is an XServe in a rack! Only problem is that without a monitor attached to the GPU, the XServe fails to acknowledge the existence of the GPU. Quartz Extreme does not load. Compressor will not launch if opened (explaining that I have no GPU!) and the automatic encodes from FCS come out as 0Mbyte .mov files. I admit I already knew about the issue of Final Cut Studio apps not running on a headless machine, even with a GPU installed. I just assumed Apple must have fixed this one for FCS because it is server software....I am guessing plenty of people must actually run FCS on headless machines....what's the trick to getting encoding to work?
Thanks!
Daniel

Depending on your xServe, you can just stick the dongle in the back and it should activate Quartz Extreme. You shouldn't have to install another graphics card. If you have an older xserve, you may have to hook up a monitor to the dongle.

XServe won't boot from any drive, but recognizes them in OS X Installer

I know I have another post here but this is a different issue, and I've already fixed that one thanks to Camelot .
I just received an 2 used xserves for work. One booted into OS X Server fine, so I scrubbed it and reinstalled without issue.
The second however never booted into an install. That is, I never found it on my network when I started it up and when I pushed the power button it would turn off immediately, suggesting that there was no OS on the disk or that the xserve couldn't find it. I didn't have a spare monitor to plug into it (surprisingly) so I just chalked it up to the fact that it was a new disk and hadn't had OS X Server installed on it.
Now I have a spare monitor, I've gone and installed OS X Server on the xserve. It boots from the DVD just fine, runs through the installer, then when it goes to restart, it won't boot from the hard drive that it just installed OS X Server on, it'll just boot back from the DVD unless I pop it out. If I let it boot up without the DVD in it, I'll get the standard Folder with a ?.
At first I thought it was the drive, so I installed OS X Server on another drive. Still wouldn't boot to that drive, so I booted from the DVD and repaired the disks in Disk Utility. Still nothing. I booted to DVD again and when I went to Startup Disk, it actually did show my disks with their respective OS X Server installs.
When I boot the machine holding alt/option, the system doesn't show my drives, only the DVD if it's in the slot.
I figured ok, this has to be the drives, so I swapped them with those of the identical xserve in the rack below, but my top xserve wouldn't boot from those drives either. Somewhat expectedly however, the bottom xserve would boot the drives that I took out of the first one.
Now I'm just stumped. Any ideas?
PS, drives are unlocked.

MrHoffman wrote:
The EFI firmware, the SMC and possibly the disk I/O path seem good potential candidates for culprit.
Load and run the hardware diagnostics.
Reset the SMC, and reset the LOM.
I'm running the EFI diagnostic tool now. Firmware and disk I/O path came to mind, let's just hope it's not a major hardware issue
beatle20359 wrote:
Hi Jeff,
Do you have the specs of the xserve and the version of OSX server you are trying to install? Does the Xserve have the RAID card installed in it and what size are the drive modules.
All the best
Beatle
2x 3GHz Dual-Core Xeon
8GB RAM
OS X Server v 10.6.3 (the version I'm trying to install, that is)
No RAID card. The system drive is 80GB and a second storage drive is 1TB.

XServe at home??

Good Afternoon,
I wonder if somebody can help me on this topic as I need some advice before we possibly go and fork out a rather large amount of money on a XServe and relevant products.
Currently at home we have 7 macs, 3 printers and various network devices and currently they are all being used by separate users in the house, the printers are connected via the network, one ethernet and 2 by a airport expresses.
We are thinking of purchasing a XServe for home storage, printer server, and EMail server as we don't currently have a decent central computer.
Each user has their own computer, and would like it to stay like that, but we would like to be able to use the Xserve for file sharing, and to back up to so that we have relevant backups in case of failure. Can we use a XServe without having to make all the file storage central?
Next reason we would like to use a Xserve is network management, currently I run ARD on one computer to link to each, but as you all know I cant run schedule tasks without the computer being on, can I do this with Xserve?
Thank you for your help in advance.
Rob

The Xserve box and Mac OS X Server do not care if the configuration is physically installed in a home or an office or a computer room, so long as the environment meets certain basic requirements.
This particular configuration does work; I am familiar with several small businesses with Xserve boxes with similar back room and back office configurations.
Biggest issues here tend to be the need to keep the server continuously powered and cooled, and the noise from the box. Best to have an acoustical cabinet or dedicated space (big closet or dedicated room) with sufficient cooling and access, and enough rack space for the inevitable adjunct gear. And usually a UPS, because yanking the power on a server can lead to badness.
One other caveat can be network bandwidth. 2.4 GHz WiFi or 100 Mb Ethernet might not be enough bandwidth if you're lobbing quantities of storage I/O traffic around. Consider 5 GHz dual-slot WiFi and/or Gigabit Ethernet here.
Xserve and Mac OS X Server is overkill for "just" shared storage; it's far more capable than your current plans seem to require. Time Capsule or a NAS RAID box might be a cheaper choice if the goal is "just" archival storage.
As for what you can do with Xserve, yes, you can run scheduled jobs using cron or launchd or Xgrid or such. But the Xserve does need to be booted to service these jobs and to service requests from random clients on your LAN or WLAN; servers are traditionally continuously available. If the scheduling-related activity is for archival processing for the clients, that's certainly feasible using various approaches, though I'd look very seriously at Time Machine for that requirement. This assumes the target box is booted, or has a NIC and a console that supports Wake on LAN; various Mac boxes can wake from sleep on receipt of a WoL packet.
I'd encourage reviewing the manuals for Mac OS X Server here. Configuring and running a server is more involved and more complex than running a client box. As easy as Mac OS X Server is, it's still substantially more complex to configure it than is Mac OS X client, and a server assumes knowledge of IP networking and routing and DNS and (as required) other services. And a corollary: if you're planning on remote access into this server, you'll also need a business-class network service. Servers expect static (private or public) IP addresses, and do not do well with DHCP-issued dynamic IP addresses.

XServe fans running fast and loud

Good morning
I have searched the information base and tried a few suggestions without success. Hoping for another solution here.
I have an Intel based XServe (2008) (OS 10.6.8) whose fans are running faster (and therefore louder) than they have previously. This follows on the heels of a power outage (two of them actually) here at school, though the server is behind a UPS. The system identifier light is also blinking in a particular pattern - 4 flashes and a pause repeating.
The server is up and running, teachers are connecting to it just fine, the RAID is intact and online, the drives all look good according to Disk Utility. So, functionally, everything looks OK - the fans are just running faster and louder than before - noticibly louder than the other Intel XServe in the rack. The server is at the top of the enclosed rack with a space below it as it has been for the last 4 years.
This summer I took all the XServes out of the rack, opened them up, and blew the dust out of them (including a moth - truly a bug in the system), so the all the airways are clean and clear.
I have tried the suggestions I could find on this forum:
     restarted a bunch of times
     shut down and disconnect everything (including power) for a period of time
     reset the PMU/SMC or whatever it is called doing the front panel buttons with the blue lights on the lower row
     reset the PMU/SMC or whatever it is called by holding down the power button while disconnected from power
I have installed iStat Pro and the temperatures are averaging around mid- to upper- 30°C and the fans are running around 3000 RPM . The temperatures aren't signifcantly different that the other XServe, but the fans are running about twice the speed.
I had to reformat the RAID earlier this weekend and copy over the data files from backup and reassign permissions, but the server was running quietly after that was all finished. It seems to be post-powerbump that the fans became noisy.
Sorry for the long post, but I tried to include all the pertinent information. I would have tossed in photos and videos if I could have!
Any suggestions would be appreciated.
TIA
Greg

Did a little more searching about setting up LOM on the XServe and I think I have it figured out now.
I assigned a unique (different) IP address to Network 1 in the LOM dialogue box in Configure Server menu of Server Monitor since I only have Ethernet 1 enabled and linked to a switch using a unique (different) IP address for network traffic between the XServe and my clients.
I can now see (via Server Monitor remotely) that I have a dead blower in my fan array which, upon closer inspection, is also evident in the iStatPro display (one fan running at 18 RPM). Hence the blinking system identifier light and the other fans running faster and harder (and noisier).
Oddly enough, I have a replacement fan array in a box of XServe spare parts. I now have a weekend task.
Thanks for all the information to be found and the people participating in this forum. Love it.
Greg

Connecting a Studio Display without adaptor?

Hi, i was just wondering if it's possible to connect a studio display to an xServe without the use of an adaptor. i can't get in behind out xServe here in the office to see what ports are available but i somehow feel it doesn't connect directly with the displays.
The reason i need to connect a display is to use TimeMachine as it doesn't work through the VNC software we have here

Hi
If it's an Intel XServe you will need the adapter it came with.
Tony

RAID for Intel based Xserve

Why haven't we heard anything about a RAID card for the Intel based Xserves? Why did Apple release this product without a RAID card? Can anyone shed any light when and if Apple will provide a RAID card for the new Xserve? Will one of the older cards work in the Intel Xserve? I'm really annoyed Apple released the new Xserve without a RAID card option.
G5 Duel 2GHz Mac OS X (10.4.8)

I'm guessing it has something to do with the hybrid
SAS/SATA support in the Xeon XServe. I don't know if
there's a SAS/SATA RAID 5 card on the market
(remembering that the G5 card was a rebadged LSI
card), or how you'd prevent people mixing SAS and
SATA drives on the same card (which is going to be a
really bad idea).
http://www.attotech.com/expressSASr348.html
The problem is hooking in to the ADM data - no cable/jumper connector to take over the motherboard controller's data stream to/from the ADMs.
Russ
Xserve G5 2.0 GHz 2 GB RAM Mac OS X (10.4.8) Apple Hardware RAID, ATTO UL4D, Exabyte VXA-2 1x10 1u

10.6 refuses to install on Xserve

We have 3 Xserves, two which were on 10.5 and a new one that come loaded with 10.6. We want to move the other two servers to 10.6. I made a NetInstall of the 10.6 DVD and used that to upgrade one of the two Xserves without issue. When I tired to upgrade the remaining Xserve, however, the install failed. There's no error message, no hint of what's gone wrong -- only that the OS "cannot be installed on this computer". I've tried everything -- NetInstall, trying to install off the DVD directly, even trying to do a fresh install (and not an upgrade). Nothing works.
Is there any way to find out what's causing the install to fail?

Usual triggers: not a retail disk for Mac OS X Server; using a platform-specific disk that arrived for another box. Software too old for the box, though that's not an issue here with Xserve2,1 on 10.6. Wrong low-level disk partitioning (as differentiated from volume format). Problem with the disks themselves.
Usual approach: if this is a retail Snow Leopard Server DVD disk, nuke and pave the disks from the installer; via Disk Utility. If these are Apple disks, call Apple. If they're "compatible" disks, call whomever you got them from and start to work toward a swap.

Installing Application through terminal session on xserv

Hey-
I've got a xserv Tiger server, rack-mountable, which just came in. I was hopint there was some way to install software on this machine (i.e. bring up a remote desktop) using an xserver terminal.
I should admit that I am a unix person who has very little experience with MAC, but on similiar Solaris environments, using an xserver (xterm) usually does the trick.
Any help would be appreciated, i.e. setting up VNC, etc...
Thanks.

If the software is in a package format, .pkg or .mpkg, then you can use the installer command:
installer -pkg DeveloperTools.mpkg -target /
installer has a pretty good man page.
Roger

XServe without a rack

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