Great *IMHO* ars post on Xserve holdouts

[campyguy]

I was a holdout until recently - :sniff: - some who still are might like this read posted on ars:
http://arstechnica.com/apple/2016/10/life-after-death-for-apples-xserve/

 

[MacsRgr8]

I loved the Xserve.
Started using the first G4-versions at the office I worked at in those days.
Mac OS X 10.2 and 10.3 Server hosting centralised Home folders of the client iMacs.

Seen and implemented all the upgrades (2nd gen G4, G5, Xeons etc.) until *gasp* Apple suddenly decided to scrap the only Apple server available.

This made it clear to us that Apple only focused on the client OS (OS X and iOS). Get your server elsewhere.
Quite a bitter pill to take as a Mac Sys Admin which I was back in those days.

Nowadays, I find it amusing that Apple sells macOS Server.
Yes, it can be handy for macOS deployment (if you stiil use pre-fabricated software images) and Profile Manager is fun to play with, but, IMHO it feels like it's legacy software Apple finds necessary to keep alive for one reason or another.

The one thing I am waiting for is "Profile Manager in the Cloud".
Not a 3rd party MDM tool, but Apple's own real-deal.

 

[satcomer]

Microsoft started officially accepting OS X connections just like any computer on it's Domain. Plus the cheap Linux Servers now and Microsoft Yearly fees that Linux Server (with unlimited connections) many mall businesses are dumping Micrsoft Server!

Now IMHO that Smart NAS devices having a Sever at home seems like overkill! Those NASes do many things only a Server could just a few years ago!

 

[thats all folks]

even without some of the deeper and more enterprise features, real server equipment would have been nice for smaller shops with the need for unified shared storage and some of the collaborating and communicating features that Microsoft had locked down with Exchange and Outlook (though not really on the Mac and not really for a small org) and which have now largely been taken over by Google (apps, email...) or a few 3rd party services (Slack...).

nice would have been a 2U, tower convertible, unit with more drive bays and PCIe slots (not every business has a server closet, sometimes it's just a closet).

but it's all wishful thinking now. did what we could with Mac Pros and external storage (Mini was never going to cut it for TBs of large video files with several users). Gave up on everything else (especially as Windows became an ever bigger presence in the shop (to do things that Apple couldn't and wouldn't) and glad I did as Apple's continued deprecation of those features would have meant another transition down the line. ugh.

and Apple can put whatever they want in the brochure, SMB never worked as well as AFP and now they don't care about either.

let's face it. the trash can Mac Pro is for individuals using FCP X. everything else is for families, children, emailing and the reception desk at art galleries. the iMac is pushing into creative places but it's not a replacement for what the Mac pro should have been so it's an inflexible, underwhelming, stop-gap on the road to Windows.

 

[Intell]

I love my Xserves. It'll be sad the day when the last one is turned off. Slowly but surely, I am replacing them. Still have an old Xserve G5 chugging along for file sharing with ancient Mac OS computers too.

 

[DJLC]

I'm still running the last Xserve in a production environment. Although most things have been moved to Windows Server or Linux or the cloud, it still serves Profile Manager for our Macs, hosts our Munki repo, shares printers via Bonjour across 3 VLANs, and runs PaperCut to track print and copy usage throughout the organization. Unfortunately Windows / Linux just isn't well-suited for those tasks in my opinion, and I don't have the budget to replace it even if I wanted to!

 

[StevieRay]

I was hoping with Apples recent partnership with IBM to push enterprise that they would have had worked something out with IBM to build a rack mount server that can run MacOS.

 

[Flint Ironstag]

I have several in production personally, and many clients. Love those things.

 

[Les Kern]

At one time I had 42 Xserves. Those were the days man. Here's a pic of one of my racks with a RAID unit. Used them for home directories for 2,500 students and staff, the web server, mail server, various testing servers, school financial server, school database, and class servers. And it was only me taking care of them for the most part. Thing was, it was set and forget. Over time I got it down to 30, then 20, then 5 as we moved to more online solutions. Cheaper, right? But not nearly as cool.

 

[Flint Ironstag]

Les, that's beautiful - upload a hi res version for us please!

 

[Gav2k]

Cba to read the article on ars. The usual redirects will kick in when the page loads. But I have an Xserve and it's a noisy beast that I love

 

[Flint Ironstag]

LOL - read the article, man!

 

[Les Kern]

Les, that's beautiful - upload a hi res version for us please!

Took me awhile to find it, so long ago. I walked down memory lane and included a few other pics, at Macworld watching Jobs show the lampshade, installing those servers, an iMac delivery, at 1 Infinite loop. I am the 6'7" bald guy.

 

[Flint Ironstag]

Thanks Les - a trip down memory lane for me as well.

 

[Les Kern]

Thanks Les - a trip down memory lane for me as well.

You in the "biz"?

 

[Flint Ironstag]

I suppose I was at some point! Spent several years doing substantial deployments (universities, school districts, enterprise, (para)military, and some well-funded individuals!!).

Had some serious concerns when they axed the Xserve, and that's about the time those gigs dried up (not coincidentally). Switched focus to SMB for a bit, and the Mac Mini turned out to be quite capable as an OD / AFP box as long as you didn't get too ambitious. Not the same though.

I have a pipe dream that IBM going public with glowing reviews of reduced Mac support costs, along with other rumors of Apple getting back in the server market, mean that I may get to do some big iron projects again.

But that all depends on what you mean by "the biz" - I mean we're all civilians now!

 

[Les Kern]

By "biz" I meant larger-scale implementations of Xserve, I guess I was a little vague there.
I was in EDU for over 20 years and was lucky enough to have the financial support to do some amazing things. Even presented at Tech conferences all over the country as I was on the cutting edge of what Apple (and computers in general) could do for education. Had a 5 cent levy, so every year I got anywhere from $500K to $1.5M (three year purchase) for technology. I'm proud of my history as I am sure you are, but mine is all gone now as I am semi-retired.

 

[hvfsl]

Apple doesn't need to get back into the server market, they just need to allow you to run Mac OS Server inside VMware ESX (on non Apple hardware). They could even charge a few hundred dollars more for it to make up for the loss of buying a Mac.

 

[DJLC]

Apple doesn't need to get back into the server market, they just need to allow you to run Mac OS Server inside VMware ESX (on non Apple hardware). They could even charge a few hundred dollars more for it to make up for the loss of buying a Mac.

+1. I'd loooooove to turn my super loud Xserve into a VM on my shiny new Dell server.

 

[Les Kern]

Apple doesn't need to get back into the server market, they just need to allow you to run Mac OS Server inside VMware ESX (on non Apple hardware). They could even charge a few hundred dollars more for it to make up for the loss of buying a Mac.

Agree mostly. There's no reason for Apple to get back in the game. Windows and to some extent Linux servers offer an IT department all they need. Where is the advantage on having a Mac server? I can see something like small shops using Mini's (as I do at home and did at work for some tasks they could handle well) but for the Enterprise? Nah.