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G4 Cases Holding Back Clustering Acceptance?
Mr. Quick writes: "An article at Wired talks about how Mac hardware is well-suited for clustering, but is being held back by the sexy cases. This follows closely on the heels of Apple releasing an optimized version of BLAST. Producing rack-mount *blades* is not in Steve's vision of world domination, but the opportunity exists. I, for one, hope that apple seriously considers developing a rack mounted dual-G4. Quad G4 maybe?"
Never happen. Apple will never go back to generic looking cases. The beige cases almost killed them and the flavored macs (and microsoft) saved their butter.
If voting were effective, it would be illegal by now.
However, it would be possible to have a decent-looking (ie non-wacko), slimline design differentiated from Apple's normal consumer kit. This might be a niche market, but that is usually where Apple thrives.
Greetings, for free software!
Why that would be function over form!! ::Gasp::
Jobs would never go for it. ;)
~Anztac
3rd party rack-mounted cases are already out there - from Marathon or GVS. Given how important style is to Apple at the moment, I doubt they're going to branch out into purely functional cases anytime soon...
-dair
Only one button... only one menu bar... why more than one computer? That would just be making things too complicated!
A bold statement i know, but if you go to the apple store you can see that they have a "Server" section, which is basically a PowerMac with OS X Server. How hard would it be for apple to add a tick box for rack mount kit, perhaps even allow downgrading to OS X as the OS.
Personally I think that apple SHOULD change the look of the systems that they are trying to sell as servers, have a look at the Sun E250 or E450, they are not butt ugly, but rather well engineered cases (and not too bad machines, albeit old now). If apple took an approach like that, simply making a machine they sell to be a server look like one, and havit it available as rackmount, they would have it made.
Do the following really mean anything? SCSA MCP CCSA CCNA
--I'm not actually after an answer!
The Google Search Appliance isn't a drab beige rackmount. I suppose Apple could do something along that line, of course it would have a neon tube in the front that changed color as server load changed, or something.
The one thing Uncle Steve won't do is build something noone will buy. Sure, it has to be 'cool', but it also has to sell. Since Darwin's cli is so similar to Linux, I think Apple-branded servers won't have any perceived benefit to the unwashed masses (who always complained that Mac hardware was too expensive).
My father is a blogger.
As explained before, Apple's form factor is a major differentiator between their product and a beige box. Beige (or black!) boxes don't get nearly as much attention as, say, the new iMac or even the old iMac. I've never seen a Newsweek with, say, a Dell insert in it explaining the features of the new Dell or Dell-branded MP3 player. Apple's marketing department's really on the ball selling the computer's form, and selling a boring old rackmount server isn't in Apple's little four-square Plan For The Future. The rackmount server goes against everything Jobsian in design, such as: the original iMac, the cube, the next cube, the iPod, the new iMac, and the G3 case design family (B&W G3, graphite G4, Quicksilver G4).
I will now redundantly add my name to the end of my post. You know, in case you forgot me or something.
Apple could easily make a drawer like the Sun Cobalt Raq. Nobody ever compares a Cobalt Raq to the looks of a Compaq Proliant drawer.
Pedro
----
The Insomniac Coder
We have a rack-mounted G4. It sits in our rack on its side and has been running just fine for months. I do not see Apple's case design as a significant impediment to rack mounting... just people's desire to have every little thing done for them!
Ouch! The truth hurts!
Repackaging news from another mac web site and then insulting Apple users by ending each department name with "for dummies" is not an impressive start for this new section.
Or maybe my math is just really bad, it would be half (40) as many processors per rack, not double. The ability to put Apple's latest and greatest in a 2U space is still very attractive...
The form factor of the board is not the issue.
My former employer makes (x86) 1U boxes and
there are two issues.
Height of CPU(namely the heatsink) and RAM.
Heat, you only end up with 19*2 inches on either
end exposed. And you have to pull air through
that (around the contents) to cool everything.
You are not going to get 4 boards in one box.
Well okay, maybe 4 boards but nothing else to
speak of.
Were that I say, pancakes?
The iPod is another example. It wasn't expected at all, and generally downplayed and dissed by a lot of the media (including my site), because we didn't think it would be successful. Apple proved us wrong.
Both of those cases are examples of Apple doing something unexpected, as opposed to building demand for something expected.
Sun puts out large purple boxes with GIANT Sun logos on the side and 30+ flashing lights. So I can't see much diffreance between that and the Mac case. I personally think the thing that holds Mac's back from the server market is honestly few people view them as servers, least in my experiance. What upper level manager wants to say he has a rack full of Apples? The mere mention of that sounds odd. The uninitiated want to say they have a rack full of Sun's, IBM's, Dells or Compaqs, not Fruit.
Aren't G4's primary use from Motorola for embedded devices? I think this would make it very easy for the chips to fit into a small space with low power consumption and low heat. If Apple decides to go after this market it should not be difficult for them to fit 4 chips in a 1U case. BTW, all you guys posting the Marathon links, did you even read the article? They state the Marathon cases only allow 80 processors per rack, where comparable PC cases allow 160 processors.
For the power of the G4 mixed with linux and stacked serves or a rack mount option, Yellow Dog Linux makes the briQ.
/ br iQ.shtml
It runs on amazing little power and you can cram 8 of them in a 4U rack.
http://www.terrasoftsolutions.com/products/briQ
-Barkeep, a draft of your most hazardous brew, for the world is slowly stepping into focus, and I don't like what I see.
Does this sound like trollish sarcasm? Perhaps, but I'm deadly serious. Apple's design innovations are all supposed to be about making computers more usable. But they're the darlings of those who thing form is everything and function is nothing. When the new iMac came out, NPR intereviewed a prominent design consultant. Here's a relevent excerpt
Here's a story about a guy who has successfully clustered some G4 Cubes, bypassing the heat problem by adding some fans and removing the computer from the plastic casing. Sure, it's not quiet any more, but it apparently makes for a decent cluster.
Gentoo Linux http://gentoo.org/