Xserve/Xserve cluster viabilty as a workstation.

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Level 1

1 points

Xserve/Xserve cluster viabilty as a workstation.

Hello all and thank you to anyone in advance who posts any help.
I am wondering about how viable it would be to put a graphics card into a Dual G5 clusternode Xserve, and run it as a workstation. I am interested because I own a commercial recording studio of the flexibilty with drives (Raid serve) and the idea of building the system over time and adding more clusters is brillant for the bigger picture of a flexible audio system. We already have a Dual 2Ghz G5. Is this Xserve machine ok to be used like this? Does OS X server run OS X applications OK? Any suggestions is much appreciated. Thanks Troy.

Powermac DP G5/ G4 Powerbook, Mac OS X (10.3.9)

Posted on Dec 16, 2006 1:14 PM

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Answer 1

Dec 16, 2006 1:40 PM in response to tkoinnz

The cluster node only has a single drive bay, so it can't do any RAID.

Also, the cluster node comes with no video card -- you can put in a card but it's a PCI slot so you're limited to very old, very underpowered graphics cards.

Note, the new 2 GHz Intel Xserves come with video (mini-DVI out) and cost the same ($2999 base) as the Xserve G5 cluster nodes... so I can't see why the cluster nodes would be of interest any more unless you have a line on them at a fire-sale price. The Intel Xserves would probably be fairly good as workstations -- assuming you have a cabinet or something (they're not as quiet as a Mac Pro).

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Answer 2

tkoinnz Author

Level 1

1 points

Dec 16, 2006 2:48 PM in response to William Lloyd

The cluster node only has a single drive bay, so it
can't do any RAID.

Also, the cluster node comes with no video card --
you can put in a card but it's a PCI slot so you're
limited to very old, very underpowered graphics
cards.

Note, the new 2 GHz Intel Xserves come with video
(mini-DVI out) and cost the same ($2999 base) as the
Xserve G5 cluster nodes... so I can't see why the
cluster nodes would be of interest any more unless
you have a line on them at a fire-sale price. The
Intel Xserves would probably be fairly good as
workstations -- assuming you have a cabinet or
something (they're not as quiet as a Mac Pro).

Thanks William,

I have found a pre intel dual G5 2GHZ cluster node for sale for under $1k. Graphics is not a priority unless by very underpowered you mean it couldn't drive say a 19"LCD for 1 audio application and OS X? I dont need it for games or dvd play back. Like I said a Dual G5 in a single rackspace would be a dream, I would add a firewire PCI card and the graphics card and be smiling.

Is there any info on OSX based apps working on OSX Server?. Would OSX work on the cluster node G5?

Many thanks again, for your time,

Troy.

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Answer 3

tkoinnz Author

Level 1

1 points

Dec 19, 2006 4:44 PM in response to tkoinnz

Hello,

Could someone help me out ? I am pretty keen to buy this cluster but I am still unsure....

Thanks tko.

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Answer 4

Dec 19, 2006 4:49 PM in response to tkoinnz

You can install OS X on there, yes.

And most, but not all, applications will run on OS X Server. I actually think iLife will refuse to install on OS X Server -- last I tried it refused, but that was like 2 years ago. Maybe it has been fixed.

OS X Server and OS X are virtually identical, save the additional software on OS X Server and a few tuning parameters. If you run OS X Server with all services off it's quite lightweight.

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Answer 5

rhwalker

Level 3

589 points

Dec 20, 2006 12:44 PM in response to tkoinnz

Note that it will matter which graphics card you use under
some circumstances. The "Universal" Mac OS X Server DVD (and
install) will kernel panic with the Sonnet Sonata SD PCI
graphics card or the Villagetronic MPDD Pro PCI graphics card
(they are the same card, Villagetronic makes both, and they
are discontinued). The PPC Mac OS X Server DVD works fine
with both.

Russ

Xserve G5 2.0 GHz 2 GB RAM Mac OS X (10.4.8) Apple Hardware RAID, ATTO UL4D, Exabyte VXA-2 1x10 1u

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