- Xserve RAID
Xserve RAID was a mass-storage device that was offered by
Apple Inc. Xserve RAID held up to 14 hot-swappable Ultra-ATA hard drives, and had a capacity of 10.5 TB when filled with 750 GB modules. Xserve RAID could be configured for most RAID levels. It was rack-mountable and was 3U high.Xserve RAID managed its hard drives with two identical RAID controller chipsets. The controllers were independent, but not redundant; each managed seven of the storage array's fourteen drives, given a failure of one of the controllers the other could not take over its duties. Xserve RAID did, however, have redundant cooling units and power supplies. Xserve RAID's ports were two
Fibre Channel ports for regular data transfer, a 10/100Ethernet port for remote management, and a serial port for UPS communication via theSimple Signaling Protocol .Apple marketed Xserve RAID mainly as a companion to
Xserve infile server andhigh-performance technical computing applications. The storage array is also useful in some professional environments such as non-linear video editing. Also, Apple certified Xserve RAID for use with some other vendors' servers, such as those runningWindows Server 2003 orRed Hat Enterprise Linux . Due to the cross-platform support available, users do not need a Mac to administer the Xserve RAID. Apple shipped a CD-ROM with the device containing the Xserve RAID Admin Tools, a Java software application that runs on most operating systems — includingMac OS X ,Microsoft Windows ,Linux , andSun Solaris .Xserve RAID was available in models costing between US$5,999 and US$12,999, plus configuration and support options.
The Xserve RAID was discontinued on 19 February, 2008. [ [http://www.macworld.com/article/132164/2008/02/raid.html Apple discontinues Xserve RAID ] ] It has been replaced with Promise VTrak E-Class RAID Subsystem. [ [http://www.apple.com/server/storage/ Apple - Server - Storage] ]
History
*Xserve RAID :*Build: Feb 2003 - Jan 2004 :*Part numbers: M8668, M8669, M8670:*HSSDC2 Fibre Channel Ports
*Xserve RAID (SFP):*Build: Jan 2004 - Oct 2004 :*Part numbers: M9721, MA208:*SFP Fibre Channel Ports:*14 separate ATA100 Controllers
*Xserve RAID (SFP Late 2004):*Build: Oct 2004 - Feb 2008 :*Part numbers: A1009:*SFP Fibre Channel Ports:*14 separate ATA100 Controllers and 750 GB support
* Line discontinued: 19th February 2008
References
External links
* [http://www.apple.com/support/xserveraid/ Xserve RAID] - official support page
* [http://alienraid.org/ AlienRAID] - Xserve RAID on non Apple environments
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