5 ms·

Was anyone actually still using this with the dearth of hardware for years?

Animats 4y ago
Apple sells a rackmount server.[1] It's a repackaged Mac Pro. Unclear who, if anyone, buys these. If MacOS Server is being discontinued, are those being orphaned? Or can you run the regular OS headless? [1] https://www.apple.com/shop/buy-mac/mac-pro https://www.apple.com/shop/buy-mac/mac-pro
- ramesh31 4y ago
  > Unclear who, if anyone, buys these. Native development shops running in-house build pipelines I imagine. But even that has completely gone to the cloud in the last 5 years.
  - dividedbyzero 4y ago
    What do the clouds use?
    - scarface74 4y ago
      Mac Minis
      - dividedbyzero 4y ago
        That's wild.
- NorwegianDude 4y ago
  That's not a server. That's just a Mac pro that can be rack mounted.
  - fredoliveira 4y ago
    Well, that comes down to what you think a server is. macOS is definitely unix, and can run server software. You can do that on that rackmount mac. So what makes it not a server?
    - spogbiper 4y ago
      servers generally will have out of band management, redundant power and networking, some kind of light you can flash to help find it in a rack. stuff like that. oob management is probably the most vital feature of a proper server.
      - samcat116 4y ago
        New Mac Pros/Mac minis actually have OOB management features. However depends on having an MDM and another Mac on the same LAN I believe.
        magicloop 4y ago
        Yes, https://support.apple.com/en-gb/guide/deployment/dep580cf25bc/web https://support.apple.com/en-gb/guide/deployment/dep580cf25b... explains how to MDM them for OOB management. (Lights out management).
    - rogueresearch 4y ago
      The fact that Server.app has been gutted and gutted for years now.
      - fredoliveira 4y ago
        Talking about the hardware here. Yep, Server.app is a shell of what it could be. But I mean the rackmount macs — I was asking GP why they didn't consider those servers ;-)
        4y ago
- wlesieutre 4y ago
  macOS server was a GUI app that you install from the App Store on regular macOS: https://apps.apple.com/us/app/macos-server/id883878097?mt=12 https://apps.apple.com/us/app/macos-server/id883878097?mt=12 10.6 (Snow Leopard) was the last version where they sold a separate more expensive server edition of the OS. As for server hardware, I have to imagine the 3rd party 1U Mac Mini rack enclosures are already more popular than Apple's official rack mount Pro. https://www.sonnettech.com/product/rackmacmini.html https://www.sonnettech.com/product/rackmacmini.html Use case for datacenter Macs is basically just as build servers for Mac and iOS projects, anything else there's not much justification for the hardware cost.
  - wlesieutre 4y ago
    I hadn't looked for these before, but for people who need the extra oomph there are also Mac Studio rack mounts now: https://www.mk1manufacturing.com/Mac-Studio-c28/ https://www.mk1manufacturing.com/Mac-Studio-c28/
- huxley 4y ago
  I think it's generally used as a rack-mounted workstation not as a server, guys I've worked for in live video productions definitely seem prefer their gear to be rack-mountable for ease of setup and tear-down, I imagine it's not an uncommon request in other related fields.
  - mhh__ 4y ago
    Although I can feel my toy vs. necessary alarm going off (you can do live stuff on some truly awful hardware, you don't need the latest Mac even if your personality dictates as much), having stuff rack-mounted is a real help when it comes to keeping track of stuff and keeping your "builds" (literally) reproducible In a less segmented environment (i.e. non-professional), having gear in a rack can also stop people playing with it.
- protomyth 4y ago
  The rackmount server is really for folks that have their audio / video equipment in a rackmount, not to be a rackmounted server. It would be horrible to use that machine in a server room.
- thesuitonym 4y ago
  Pixar, maybe?

Apple sells a rackmount server.[1] It's a repackaged Mac Pro. Unclear who, if anyone, buys these. If MacOS Server is being discontinued, are those being orphaned? Or can you run the regular OS headless? [1] https://www.apple.com/shop/buy-mac/mac-pro https://www.apple.com/shop/buy-mac/mac-pro

ramesh31 4y ago
> Unclear who, if anyone, buys these. Native development shops running in-house build pipelines I imagine. But even that has completely gone to the cloud in the last 5 years.
- dividedbyzero 4y ago
  What do the clouds use?
  - scarface74 4y ago
    Mac Minis
    - dividedbyzero 4y ago
      That's wild.
NorwegianDude 4y ago
That's not a server. That's just a Mac pro that can be rack mounted.
- fredoliveira 4y ago
  Well, that comes down to what you think a server is. macOS is definitely unix, and can run server software. You can do that on that rackmount mac. So what makes it not a server?
  - spogbiper 4y ago
    servers generally will have out of band management, redundant power and networking, some kind of light you can flash to help find it in a rack. stuff like that. oob management is probably the most vital feature of a proper server.
    - samcat116 4y ago
      New Mac Pros/Mac minis actually have OOB management features. However depends on having an MDM and another Mac on the same LAN I believe.
      - magicloop 4y ago
        Yes, https://support.apple.com/en-gb/guide/deployment/dep580cf25bc/web https://support.apple.com/en-gb/guide/deployment/dep580cf25b... explains how to MDM them for OOB management. (Lights out management).
  - rogueresearch 4y ago
    The fact that Server.app has been gutted and gutted for years now.
    - fredoliveira 4y ago
      Talking about the hardware here. Yep, Server.app is a shell of what it could be. But I mean the rackmount macs — I was asking GP why they didn't consider those servers ;-)
      - 4y ago
wlesieutre 4y ago
macOS server was a GUI app that you install from the App Store on regular macOS: https://apps.apple.com/us/app/macos-server/id883878097?mt=12 https://apps.apple.com/us/app/macos-server/id883878097?mt=12 10.6 (Snow Leopard) was the last version where they sold a separate more expensive server edition of the OS. As for server hardware, I have to imagine the 3rd party 1U Mac Mini rack enclosures are already more popular than Apple's official rack mount Pro. https://www.sonnettech.com/product/rackmacmini.html https://www.sonnettech.com/product/rackmacmini.html Use case for datacenter Macs is basically just as build servers for Mac and iOS projects, anything else there's not much justification for the hardware cost.
- wlesieutre 4y ago
  I hadn't looked for these before, but for people who need the extra oomph there are also Mac Studio rack mounts now: https://www.mk1manufacturing.com/Mac-Studio-c28/ https://www.mk1manufacturing.com/Mac-Studio-c28/
huxley 4y ago
I think it's generally used as a rack-mounted workstation not as a server, guys I've worked for in live video productions definitely seem prefer their gear to be rack-mountable for ease of setup and tear-down, I imagine it's not an uncommon request in other related fields.
- mhh__ 4y ago
  Although I can feel my toy vs. necessary alarm going off (you can do live stuff on some truly awful hardware, you don't need the latest Mac even if your personality dictates as much), having stuff rack-mounted is a real help when it comes to keeping track of stuff and keeping your "builds" (literally) reproducible In a less segmented environment (i.e. non-professional), having gear in a rack can also stop people playing with it.
protomyth 4y ago
The rackmount server is really for folks that have their audio / video equipment in a rackmount, not to be a rackmounted server. It would be horrible to use that machine in a server room.
thesuitonym 4y ago
Pixar, maybe?