Architects using both the Macintosh and Windows platforms say the new Apple Xserve offers a very attractive offering. Architects told Architosh in an interview that the combination of excellent pricing, industry-leading storage potential, UNIX stability and superb cross-platform capabilities make the Xserve a top pick for server replacements in the future.

Rack Mount Key

Architects are famous for squeezing every last drop of physical space out of their offices for functional and economic purposes, and computer hardware rooms are no exception. Andrew Boone, IT Director of King & King Architects of New York State, told Architosh that the new Xserve's 1U form factor is ideal.

"We finally converted to rack-mounting our servers this year," noted Andrew, "so obviously it fits in with our space requirements quite nicely. Over time we will migrate all of our file sharing servers to Xserve's (current and future configurations)."

Super Storage Potential

With more storage potential than any other 1U server on the market, Apple's new Xserve offers the type of storage that architects need to grow into. Stephane Laroye, an architect, urban designer and IT Manager of Hotson Bakker Architects of Vancouver, British Columbia, remarked: "our firm is seriously considering Xserve as a replacement to our Apple G4 AppleShare IP server. We currently run all the services simultaneously on the Server including file sharing, email, web and FTP."

"Data storage has become an issue of late as CAD file sizes grow and the amount and quality of digital photography increases," said Stephane Laroye, "Our current Server houses two 72 gig SCSI drives setup as a redundant RAID. Now with Xserve, I can have much more storage for a lot less money as the drives are now IDE."

Architects are telling us that the choice of IDE Ultra ATA 100 drives are plenty fast for storage needs related to typical architectural practice. There is just one exception to this: FileMaker Server. As Andrew Boone, IT Director of King & King, noted: "Only downside so far is the proprietary Apple drives - and no ability to use SCSI internally. This is currently only a factor with using it for a FileMaker server, as FMP Server is quite disk intensive, and UW SCSI is the best recommended route for that (see article FileMaker Advisor, July 2002, "Optimize FileMaker Server 5.5")."

Andrew's comments are of some concern since FileMaker Pro is a very popular database used by architects and other technical and creative pros.

Xserve as NAS Device Supplement and Replacement

Many firms, especially cross-platform firms, use NAS devices (network attached servers) for their file storage, backup and archival needs. Such devices by Sun Microsystems, Quantum, and Iomega offer fantastic out-of-the-box installation times and superb cross-platform network integration. These servers, which are much easier and cheaper to run then Microsoft Windows NT Servers, have been popular with "all-Mac shops" as well, as such firms waited for Mac OS X Server to mature.

Gep Pond, IT Manager of The FWA Group, of North Carolina, told Architosh that his firm purchased NAS devices as they "waited for Mac OS X to mature." However, with the new Mac OS X Server 10.2 on the horizon and the new Xserve, Gep said the value proposition has changed.

"The Xserve adds a lot of value over a similarly configured NAS, like the Iomega P400u (160GB, Raid 5, Dual 10/100, Celeron 900 MHz ) or MaxXattach (RAID 5 data protection, Dual 10/100 Ethernet ports, Gigabit Ethernet, SCSI port for local tape) NAS device," said Gep. "At the Xserves price I think many shops that would buy a NAS would consider an Xserve -- especially considering the unlimited license."

Time to Move Up in the World

Many small and large firms alike often make do with older hardware for their server needs. This is a common low-budget approach. Such firms say the iMac is an ideal low-cost server for this reason. However, while the iMac is simple to maintain, it doesn't even come close to the storage potential of the Xserve, and it doesn't need a monitor as well. As Mark Honer, an IT pro working in a United Kingdom design firm says, "We currently use an iMac, the Xserve is much better in terms of not needing a monitor and [has] vastly more storage."

With such storage potential and the rack-mounting capability, a lot of architects we talked to said the Xserve, while expensive compared to just an eMac or iMac, is very attractive for long-term use as a storage and multipurpose server.