XServe & XServe RAID File server

[tdbur]

I'm looking into the feasibility of using an XServe setup as a network file server for Linux and Windows machines. Does anyone know someone I could contact to gather information and costing?

BTW.. This isn't restricted to local sources. We get most of our hardware shipped in straight from the US so a US source would also be good.

[Edited on 12-11-2005 by tdbur]

[wireNet]

Have you tried apple store over the web. they have prices there and from my experience, the prices are the same even if you get it from other distributors. discounts are only given to more than ten seats.

a dual g5 xserve will set you back $3K and a 1Tb xraid is somewhere the $6k range so a $10K initial budget is good. the budget will go up if you plan to use fiber channels on each of the workstation attached to the xserve.

hope this helps.

a custom built linux box is still cheaper.

[Dave_D]

Ditto wirenet's comments.

Get the right tool for the job. It's like trying to use a square peg in a round hole.

I'm into blade servers myself, far better reliabilty and you're not limited to just 2 processors. The Xsan could also work, but there are still others that provide cheaper and more software support for linux/windows.

I'd heartily recommend xserve's if you needed Apple Specific solutions like distributing processing tasks over multiple macs as is the case with Final Cut Studio which allows you to do this.

[brain1976]

Just contact any of our local suppliers of macs. They can provide you with pricing options for various Xserve and Xraid solutions. It all depends on what you're going to do with it.

[tdbur]

Thanks for the info. Dave_D we actually have 3 NetApps up and running and we pretty much use them for production. Actually looking for something to store and backup office user files so 1TB would actually be ideal. Still exploring possibilities. I looked into the SUN NAS solutions and I must say they're pretty good.

Thanks for the feedback guys.