The Server I wish they made

Writing about web page http://www.apple.com/uk/xserve

While most houses are happy with a laptop or a desktop or perhaps both, I’m generally not. I don’t trust myself to always make regular backups (hence I think Apple’s Time Machine is a good invention for me), nor do I trust single hardware with all my life on it not to fail. In fact my Archive/Backup NAS just last week decided to fail and I may have lost all my work I did at uni. Fortunately I think I have a set of CDs stashed away with it on, but I can’t be sure until I get to Sussex to check. I also like the idea of shared things and things that I can access from anywhere. I like centralised redundant data storage and meaty appliances that let me share information at will. So my home will need a server. Not one of those Microsoft nancy home server jobbies but a proper, decent spec server that allows me to monitor things. Is it overkill? Probably. Is it fun? Of course it is. Does it allow me to do things I couldn’t otherwise? Of course.

So what is the ideal server for me? Well it’s got to be rack mounted and I’d like it to run OS X (File server and Web server), Windows (Exchange) and Solaris (Database Server). This of course points to an XServe as the only real option, and it’s a damn good 1u server at that. The only thing that I wish it had that it doesn’t is the use of 2.5” drives instead of 3.5” drives. I want to be able to have a RAID-1 pair of SAS drives running the operating systems with a nice 4 disk RAID-6 for the data. To do that on an HP DL380 G5 is easy and I’d even have a couple of bays spare. On a DL360 G5 I’d be ok too. On the XServe I only have three bays though and that limits my storage capability. I was happy with the idea of an XServe RAID but they discontinued it, and I’m not paying £7k for the Promise replacement idea because I just don’t need 16 drives. All I want is an XServe in 1u with 6 drive bays and 2.5” drives. Make it so Apple, make it so.

Christopher Hinds : 20 May 2008 21:31 |  Tags: Computers Data Mac Os X Servers Windows |  Comments (2) |  Report a problem