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> Apple's current line of ARM chips lack the memory and IO features that are essential for server application. Some people just want to run software. There ar

> Apple's current line of ARM chips lack the memory and IO features that are essential for server application. Some people just want to run software. There are plenty of cloud service providers that use COTS desktop hardware as servers, and their customers don't complain. Personally I run a few services on a basic Hetzner Cloud CX11 instance, with memory and IO never having been a bottleneck or concern. If I could wip out a Mac mini to do the same, I'd be happy. Not everyone needs a Ferrari. Most of us manage quite well with a beaten-up Ford.

deleted 5y ago
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Laforet 5y ago
I agree. For a lot of people their "server" is just an old laptop running headless in a closet. However eventually one will want more memory and storage, and both are highly constrained on M1 products at the moment. The demand for high density deployment of Apple hardware has always been present, but the bigwigs from Cupertino could not care any less. On the market one can find all sorts of adapters, both commercial and jury-rigged, for rack mounting a couple of Mac Mini units. And there are companies whose entire business is renting out bare metal Macs in a colo so developers could do their work remotely. I just came across the article below and it made me chuckle - apparently this company went as far as putting dozens of iMac Pro in a rack with the screen facing sideways, and this hotchpotch of gear for rent somehow makes good money. https://www.datacenterdynamics.com/en/analysis/not-just-stacks-macs-racks/ https://www.datacenterdynamics.com/en/analysis/not-just-stac...
nisegami 5y ago
If your needs are that mundane, I really don't see why an Apple ARM chip would matter?
- arinlen 5y ago
  > If your needs are that mundane, I really don't see why an Apple ARM chip would matter? I don't think "mundane" is a fair and honest take. Just like most of the industry benefits little to nothing from performance gains from microservices, I'd say that most of the industry benefits little to nothing from high-performance hardware, specially after containerization and container orchestration services took over the industry. I know for a fact that some WebApps that are household names by now use a single m4.large instance to serve all the traffic from a single deployment region while barely taxing it's CPU quotas. If those quotas were reached it's trivial and boring to just spin up more "mundane" hardware and cease to have a problem. Why push this myth that everyone needs Ferrari hardware to do everyday work when half the world would do well with today's bicycles?
  - Laforet 5y ago
    If we must go with the car analogy then I'd argue that M1 Macs are the Ferrari and Lamborghini of personal computing: They are fast, sleek, and could accomplish a number of specific tasks much better than everything else. Sure it's entirely possible to pull a trailer with a Lambo, however every sane person would agree that any beater truck would have done a better job. https://www.carscoops.com/2015/05/who-said-you-cant-use-lamborghini/ https://www.carscoops.com/2015/05/who-said-you-cant-use-lamb...

deleted 5y ago

[deleted]

Laforet 5y ago

I agree. For a lot of people their "server" is just an old laptop running headless in a closet. However eventually one will want more memory and storage, and both are highly constrained on M1 products at the moment. The demand for high density deployment of Apple hardware has always been present, but the bigwigs from Cupertino could not care any less. On the market one can find all sorts of adapters, both commercial and jury-rigged, for rack mounting a couple of Mac Mini units. And there are companies whose entire business is renting out bare metal Macs in a colo so developers could do their work remotely. I just came across the article below and it made me chuckle - apparently this company went as far as putting dozens of iMac Pro in a rack with the screen facing sideways, and this hotchpotch of gear for rent somehow makes good money. https://www.datacenterdynamics.com/en/analysis/not-just-stacks-macs-racks/ https://www.datacenterdynamics.com/en/analysis/not-just-stac...

nisegami 5y ago

If your needs are that mundane, I really don't see why an Apple ARM chip would matter?

arinlen 5y ago
> If your needs are that mundane, I really don't see why an Apple ARM chip would matter? I don't think "mundane" is a fair and honest take. Just like most of the industry benefits little to nothing from performance gains from microservices, I'd say that most of the industry benefits little to nothing from high-performance hardware, specially after containerization and container orchestration services took over the industry. I know for a fact that some WebApps that are household names by now use a single m4.large instance to serve all the traffic from a single deployment region while barely taxing it's CPU quotas. If those quotas were reached it's trivial and boring to just spin up more "mundane" hardware and cease to have a problem. Why push this myth that everyone needs Ferrari hardware to do everyday work when half the world would do well with today's bicycles?
- Laforet 5y ago
  If we must go with the car analogy then I'd argue that M1 Macs are the Ferrari and Lamborghini of personal computing: They are fast, sleek, and could accomplish a number of specific tasks much better than everything else. Sure it's entirely possible to pull a trailer with a Lambo, however every sane person would agree that any beater truck would have done a better job. https://www.carscoops.com/2015/05/who-said-you-cant-use-lamborghini/ https://www.carscoops.com/2015/05/who-said-you-cant-use-lamb...