what can one do with xserve?

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Level 2

489 points

what can one do with xserve?

Sorry, this is a question from someone who doesn't know a thing on servers.

I have the opportunity to buy a xserve G5, 2x2.3 GHz, 16 GB RAM, 1.5 TB, no graphic card, with an extraordinary cheap price (the company is falling apart, and they need quick money).
Seeing the specifications, it must be a mighty machine, but I need to know if I can do something with it. I do a lot of video editing, so I coud make use of extra power and disk capacity.
I understood that is better to keep Mac OS X Server on it, but it can run video editing software (Final Cut Pro, DVD Studio Pro, iMovie, etc.)? Can it work together with my Power Mac and PowerBook? Can I made a grid out of those three machines?

Sorry again if all those questions are stupid, but even the cheapest price on earth is too expensive if I can not use the merchandise.

Thanks for enlighting me.

PowerBook 12 Rev.A  Power Mac G5 2x2.7, 2GB, Ati X850XT , Mac OS X (10.4.5),  Cinema Display  iPod 60 GB  LaCie external HDD and burner, AirPort, over 1TB

Posted on Mar 27, 2006 7:56 AM

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Answer 1

Mar 27, 2006 7:59 PM in response to altero

Everything you can do with an xserve is basically what you can do with osx server. the limitation is the software. http://www.apple.com/server/macosx/ I got one to run my website but 1.5tb 16 gb 2.3ghz would be a bit overkill for such a simple site. How much are you getting it for? you may be able to turn around and sell it as it is still top of the line gear. I beleive xgrid may be usefull for you or you could use it as a file server between the two macs. I beleive xgrid will make it usefull as a render node basically.

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Answer 2

Camelot

Level 9

58,461 points

Mar 27, 2006 11:07 PM in response to altero

Without a video card in this machine you're going to have a hard time doing any video work, so you need to factor in the cost of a video card.

Then bear in mind that certain apps (I'm pretty sure FCP is one of them) won't install on Mac OS X Server, so you may have issues there, too.

You can grid the machines, but you need to look at the applications you use to see which (if any) can utilize network resources like this.

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Answer 3

altero Author

Level 2

489 points

Mar 27, 2006 11:20 PM in response to Chris McDowell

Thanks for your answers, Chris and Camelot.
That's where I'm confused: I can not find anywhere if the Final Cut Studio suite (for instance) can run on Mac OS X Server. In the requirements it's started only "Mac OS X".

The price it's really odd:
vand xserve g5 ** 1500$ **:
Dual 2.3GHz PowerPC G5
16GB DDR400 ECC SDRAM - 8x2GB
1500GB ADM (3x500GB 7,200rpm ADM)
SuperDrive (CD-RW/DVD-R)
Hardware RAID PCI card - (lower slot)
Fibre Channel PCI-X card (upper slot)
Xserve RAID (14x500GB)
Mac OS X Server, Unlimited License
Mac OS X Server Maintenance 36 Mths Unl. Client (Single Server), price per server
AppleCare Service Parts Kit for Xserve G5
Mac OS X Server Software Support - Alliance
AppleCare Premium Service and Support for Xserve
No video card
"vand" = sell
A short calculation shows that the total price in Apple's shop is like 80.000 $. It's really strange this cheap price, and makes me wonder about the real reason behind the sell...

Anyway, probably I will not buy this, I'm not the one that can do those kind of deals.
But I still would be interested to know what can run on Mac OS X Server. Can I run on it iLife, MS Office, and so on?

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Answer 4

Mar 28, 2006 3:54 AM in response to altero

altero-

That price is odd. You could pretty much run a large business with that hardware. For what you want it is truly overkill. However, if it is a legitimate deal (which now seems like you may be doubting) then perhaps you could buy it and then turn around and sell the individual parts and raise the cash to buy a G5 tower or something?

Generally when the price of something is "too good to be true" there are dark forces behind it and the deal may not be worth the lost sleep.

But one thing I noticed is that you mention that it has AppleCare. Perhaps you can get the owner to shake loose with a serial number and you could give Apple a call yourself and see what they say. I have never done this myself but since a serial number is needed to enable the support then you would need a valid one.

Luck-

-DaddyPaycheck

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Answer 5

altero Author

Level 2

489 points

Mar 28, 2006 5:45 AM in response to DaddyPaycheck

Yeat, that's my fear also, that's stolen stuff.
Yesterday night I looked on Apple store and when I did the maths, I got the "whiter shade of pale"...
The thing is that maybe is too difficult to sale, so that's why the guy is asking so little. Meaning that it might not be possible for me to re-sell it.

Now seeing that also the software I work with might not work on the machine, the 1.500 USD start to be too expensive...!

Thanks for the tip with the Apple Care, I will try to see (can not give you points, I'm out of "helpfull")

I asked the guy to let me see the stuff, got no answer till now...

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Answer 6

Mar 28, 2006 5:56 AM in response to altero

Certainly keeping you from going to prison is worth a "solved".

(:>)

The best way to track anything and verify ownership is through serial numbers. It is possible for a refurbished XSerrve or other hardware to be returned from Apple with a "missing or unassigned serial number, but as far as I can tell this stuff is not being advertised as "refurbished". Just used. Sets off my radar for sure.

If the guy let's you see the stuff, I would prefer to see it functioning in a well lighted computer room in some legitimate facility. It sounds like you are all over this.

Be safe-

-DaddyPaycheck

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Answer 7

altero Author

Level 2

489 points

Mar 28, 2006 6:50 AM in response to DaddyPaycheck

For sure it worth a solved, but I still don't know what kind of software works on such machine, and maybe somebody will tell me.
If not, the "solved" is yours! 🙂

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Answer 8

Mar 28, 2006 7:59 AM in response to altero

Afaik there shouldn't be any trouble running Final Cut Pro etc on the XServe, but it only has PCI slots so you won't get a great graphics card in there. Bear in mind that if it has hardware RAID, you also won't have space for a sound card, which can make video editing a bit of a pain (you'd need to get a USB sound card). Any problems with software would be to do with the OS - can you install OS X Client on an XServe?

Surely XServes must be used for big rendering farms, so Apple must have some way of supporting them. XGrid, anyone?

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Answer 9

altero Author

Level 2

489 points

Mar 28, 2006 10:04 AM in response to altero

And here we have an ending for the story: the guy told me that he sold the stuff for 50,000 USD to a guy that told him that it worth that much...

Yeah, as much you understand it's also my understanding. Far too fishy that story.
Thank you all for assistance and let's hope only for honest deals!

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Answer 10

Mar 28, 2006 3:05 PM in response to altero

It does sound odd. But that $80,000 price or whatever is HEAVILY skewed by the alliance support contract, which is $50K on its own.

And it's something that's not transferable with the server. It's also designed to give production support to an entire organization running large parts of their business on Mac OS X Server.

The fact that it was included at list price in the description is a pretty big tip-off that the seller has no idea what they were talking about. They just picked the most expensive thing they could find with an Xserve in it, looks like.

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