A week before Macworld.

Someone's got CES on the brain. It should be "a week before Macworld."

copy pasting a press release? that's not exactly the usual gizmodo.. didn't even fix the line breaks. Have some coffee guys. :)

I just find it really funny that Apple has to try and steal the thunder from CES again. Last year, MacWorld and CES were at the same time, and once the iPhone was announced everyone was like, "CES what?", the iPhone was all anyone wanted to talk about.

This year, CES scheduled before MacWorld so they could at least have some time to themselves. Could Apple not wait a ween to announce these two new products at MacWorld, rather than be over at the side saying, "Hey, don't forget about us over here!", like they just can't stand the amount of attention everyone else is getting.

@Narual: Must have been a late night in Vegas. Short one-line intro that's not correct (we're in the week before Macworld, guys, not the week before CES . . . hell, you're AT CES) and a press release copy-paste without any editing or commentary on why it's important or cool or newsworthy.

Lam, you out late at the Mustang Ranch or something? :)

lol i find it most funny that the fact apple releases a new server makes people jump for joy... supermicro/dell/hp everyone release their servers year round and they do their job but somehow apple releases it and its somehow supposed to be big news just because apple says, so... its not like other servers cant handle dual quad core xeons.

I will ask the same thing I asked in the Mac Pro article.....why the hell is Apple making announcements like these BEFORE MacWorld?????? Aren't they destroying any sort of surprises they may have for us at the actual MacWorld??????

@AZTriGuy: Can it really be that? Can it really be that Apple wanted to try to get attention for themselves during CES? They didn't have to bother! CES is always boring ultimately anyway. Besides, having CES before Macworld is better for apple because after CES then Macworld could be seen as the main event. Why did they announce two hot products before Macworld? When they announce them AGAIN at Macworld is will be like "so what". Stupid move Apple.

@ AZTRIGUY - "Hush little baby don't you cry - Apple's gonna sing you a lullaby."

And if Apple doesn't advertise its servers, no one will buy them. If there's one thing Apple keeps botching, it's how it handles its server division.

By advertise, I mean buy air time in places where the people who make purchasing decisions actually look. Sorry, but those decisions aren't made based on ads in Macworld or even on Gizmodo posts. Apple needs to put non "Mac vs. PC" ads on during Meet The Press with selling points - not talking points.

@ OLTERNAUT : Hold your breath.

@OMG! Ponies!: too true. Yet the co. I work for got them by word of mouth. I got my iPod in 2005 the same way. Word of mouth. Maybe that's more powerful than any advertising spent, or otherwise.

@phantam: Those companies are insignificant to fanboys.

@pancreas: ? Hold my breath as in they might actually have some cool surprises in store?

@OMG! Ponies!:

The "Meet the Press" ADM crowd wants a product roadmap that is laid out years in advance for strategy and budgeting purposes. Apple currently provides a man in a black turtle neck a couple of times a year that pulls back a curtain and say "Look! Neato!" They can't win the corporate game. Ever. So what's the point of wasting advertising dollars?

@olternaut: maybe what's coming ar MacWorld is bigger than those two machines. Apple just wanted them out of the way and tell CES that they also exist. Unlikely that Apple botches an opportunity to do some self-advertising. So, rather I reckon, it's just starting the countdown.

@pancreas: Word of mouth works for some things, but when it comes to purchasing decisions at large companies, something more than "One of my friends says it works well" is needed.

Don't get me wrong, word of mouth helps, but ultimately, switching a server platform requires a large outlay and will result in some productivity loss. That cost needs concrete justification.

Additionally, for servers, Apple needs to take a lesson from Microsoft as far as the five-year schedule is concerned. Computers depreciate on a five-year schedule and, because of this, there is little reason to upgrade a system more often than that. Apple needs to give a reason to abandon several years' of depreciation to companies that have upgraded their servers within the last several years.

Then, there's the admin question. Is retraining required? What is the effect on productivity? I really don't know how a new OS is a selling point for an IT department. IT is run by people who have studied and devoted time to a set area.

I fear that the Apple might have been stigmatized by AppleTalk in the way that it was stigmatized by Newton. On top of that, it sat out of the business market for years, allowing IBM, Compaq, and Dell to conquer the business market. Apple is not a known commodity in a large business environment.

This lacks any "wow" factor: why should a company spend money to abandon a known stable platform in favor of this one? That's the question for Apple to answer.

@OMG! Ponies!: I agree to some extent, but the reality is that the Xserve is primarily being sold to small/mid media companies who are transitioning from a bunch of PowerMacs sitting under a desk to a more formal client/server sort of setup. Not exactly your traditional corporate environment.

@hobronto: Then let's hope that the guy running the network doesn't have the standard bad memories of AppleShare and AppleTalk.

@OMG! Ponies!: [shudder] fair enough.

@OMG! Ponies!: i love that they've allowed os x server virtualization in leopard server. granted the hardware still has to be apple, but at least they are not hugely more anymore.

you can now install linux/xen on apple hardware and run osx server (or 3 or 4) virtualized right along side windows server and maybe a linux lamp server, or whatever else you want!

@OMG! Ponies!: i hope you have travel insurance,

@olternaut: hold your breath to live, as in.

@pancreas: I live in NYC, so when I fly, it's out of LGA or JFK. I always get the insurance because the flight is always botched.

Huh, who knew Apple made servers. I thought they just made the iPhone. I wonder if you get your server OS updates via iTunes?

Wow...I could build one of those for almost a third of that. So so very lame. Freakin' fan bois.

The Xserve standard configuration, with a suggested retail price of $2,999
(US), includes:
-- a single 64-bit 2.8 GHz Quad-Core Xeon processor with 12MB of L2 cache
and a 1600 Mhz front side bus;
-- 2GB of 800 MHz DDR2 ECC FB-DIMM RAM, expandable up to 32GB;
-- a single 80GB SATA Apple Drive Module;
-- dual Gigabit Ethernet on-board;
-- internal graphics;
-- two FireWire(R) 800 and three USB 2.0 ports; and
-- an unlimited client license for Mac OS X Server version 10.5 Leopard

@phantam:

LOL, no shit. A crapple server..........Im sure that this move will catapult crapple into the global business market. Now EVERYONE in the business world will start switching to crapple. ROFL *rolls eyes*
Wow...."Up to" 3 Tb. I dont know any servers out there that have 3 TB of storage.........lol

@Jos:

I have no words....Except maybe hold your breath for the new world wide crapple server business revolution. (Then pass out)
While your holding your breath and then subsequently passing out, its 1 less crapple FB i have to listen to drone on about how easily they created there moms wedding aniversery video, and/or how cool there cracked crapple ifone is........

It has been suggested that Apple is announcing these now, since they have something more interesting for the keynote.

@Out2gtcha: "Wow...."Up to" 3 Tb. I dont know any servers out there that have 3 TB of storage.........lol"

Yeah, a quick glance at Dell's site shows their 1U servers maxing out at 1.5TB.

@knappoleon: you can build one for less than that that will include ALL the features you listed? really?

@Out2gtcha: did steve jobs touch you in your no-no places or something? you have a weird rage issue involving apple that is incredibly unhealthy. we get it... you don't like apple. how about you hate apple for some legitimate reasons (plenty!) vs. the ill informed vitriolic ranting method you are currently using?

- - -

that said... i actually have 6 Xserves right now... and they have been rock solid. some of the older ones used CD-ROM-*only* drives... not cool when the past 2 OS releases shipped on DVD. i am in the market for 1-2 more actually and these look great... it is a shame that Leopard Server is basically an unfinished product. i have had a ton of problems with various services (swupd / dhcp / couple others) on the one machine i decided to upgrade (took 5 times to get even a partially functional system). it was not a shippable product in my opinion.

Isn't "Most Powerful Ever" a bit of a given? I think I would be genuinely disappointed if they released a "New Xserve! Less gooder than before!"

Often times it is after macworld where they ship something they didn't talk about, keyboards, new airport extremes etc. The reason is, although it is way faster than before, its hardly an announcement. I imagine they have to much to go over to include these machines in the keynote speech. I think besides firmware, the iphone will get leopard.

C.

"And you too can own all this for the price of" + (PC Server * 3);

A brand new Xserve as a CES showstopper? I can understand the MacPro but Xserve is definately not. Hell, the guy I know who works at Apple uses both Windows Exchange and Linux servers in his building.

@Ounce: sweet, where can i get a rack server spec'd like this for $1000?

@someToast:
Wasnt refering to any 1 U servers, just a general statement as they listed it, making it sound as though 3 Tb is new.....

@x23:

LOL! Sweeeeeet I knew id hook some jobs FB with that one!!

I really dont care about Apple, (would never own one but hey....) Honestly X I only go that route for the reaction of sensitive FB's like you. LOVE IT!

@x23: Hey, man, serious question here (this isn't snark... I'd really like to hear your thoughts). What made you choose Xserve instead of some other hardware with BSD on it?

Is there some Mac OS-specific need you had? Or was Apple really able to be price-competitive with Dell, HP, etc.?