Xserve - Intel Xserve

Intel Xserve

The Intel-based Xserves were announced at the Worldwide Developers Conference on August 7, 2006, and are significantly updated compared to the XServe G5, and G4. They use Intel Xeon ('Woodcrest') processors at 2 GHz, 2.66 GHz, or 3 GHz, PC2-5300 (DDR2-667) ECC FB-DIMMs, ATI Radeon X1300 graphics, a maximum storage capacity of 2.25TB when used with three 750 GB drives, optional redundant power supplies and a 1U rack form factor. The Intel Xserves now had their graphics cards on board, meaning that one did not need to sacrifice a PCI slot to add video capabilities — a departure from G4 and G5 Xserves.

On January 8, 2008 Xserve was updated to use Intel Xeon ('Harpertown') processors at 2.8 GHz or 3 GHz, PC2-6400 (DDR2-800) ECC FB-DIMMs, and a maximum storage capacity of 3TB when used with three 1TB drives. The front mounted FireWire 400 port featured in previous models was also replaced with a USB 2.0 port.

The Xserve RAID was discontinued on February 19, 2008.

On April 7, 2009 Xserve was updated to use Intel Xeon ('Gainestown') processors at 2.26 GHz, 2.66 GHz or 2.93 GHz, PC3-8500 (DDR3-1066) ECC DIMMs, two FireWire 800 ports, and a NVIDIA GeForce GT 120 graphics with 256 MB of GDDR3 memory and Mini DisplayPort output. The update also saw an increase to the maximum retail storage capacity, bringing it from 2TB to 6TB when used with three 2TB drives. An option to add a 128 GB SSD boot-drive that does not occupy a drive bay was also implemented. The addition of the optional detected boot drive that does not use a drive bay allows all drives to be swapped whilst the server remains online. It was also Apple's first Xserve to use PVC-free internal cables and components and contain no brominated flame retardants.

On August 28, 2009 Xserve was updated to ship standard with Mac OS X Server 10.6 Unlimited Client Server. In addition to improved functionality Mac OS X 10.6 Server added support for up to 96 GB of RAM (a configuration which is not currently supported by the Xserve system-board).

On November 5, 2010, Apple announced that it would not be developing a future version of Xserve. While accepting orders for the current model until January 31, 2011, and honoring all Xserve warranties and extended support programs, the company suggested users switch to Mac Pro Server or Mac mini Server.