It all starts with quad-core 64-bit Intel Xeon processing power. But the high-performance architecture of the new Xserve delivers tremendous bandwidth throughout the system — providing superior capabilities for running your Internet applications, network infrastructure, and high-performance computational needs. It’s the perfect balance between processing power, memory bandwidth, and networking and storage throughput. So whether you run a transaction-intense database or need to house massive amounts of information, Xserve can be configured to meet the needs of your organization.
Xserve provides up to 32GB of 667MHz DDR2 ECC FB-DIMM memory, PCI Express expansion, and SATA and SAS storage options. It’s an advanced server architecture that delivers outstanding results in performance-demanding situations.
Two Dual-Core Intel Xeon processors
Delivering up to 5x performance gain (1) over Xserve G5, the new Xserve comes with two dual-core Intel Xeon processors, each with a dedicated 1.33GHz frontside bus. In addition to providing fast access to main memory, shared 4MB L2 cache per processor keeps instructions and data close to the processor and reduces frontside bus transactions.
High-bandwidth memory
Xserve features a 256-bit wide memory controller with four fully-buffered DIMM (FB-DIMM) channels. Eight DIMM slots support up to 32GB of 667MHz DDR2 ECC SDRAM. All this comes with improved high-availability features to make systems more reliable and deal with failures more gracefully while continuing system operations. ECC (Error Correction Code) memory with on-demand error scrubbing automatically corrects single bit errors and detects two-bit errors. CRC protection of data and commands allows for error detection and automatic retry of operations. The Advanced Memory Buffer (AMB) on each FB-DIMM supports simultaneous reads and writes through the memory controller and contains embedded diagnostic capabilities.
PCI Express architecture
The new Xserve is built around a high-bandwidth PCI Express interconnection architecture, providing high-speed connection between components on the main logic board as well as high-bandwidth PCI Express expansion slots. Two open eight-lane PCI Express slots provide independent throughput of up to 2GB/s each. One slot can be configured as a PCI-X slot to work with PCI-X expansion cards, allowing you to preserve your investment in expensive or custom I/O cards and devices you already have. And the built-in graphics capability with mini-DVI output means you can drive a display without taking up a valuable expansion slot.
Optical drive
For software installation and recovery, a slot-loading Combo drive (DVD-ROM/CD-RW) comes standard, allowing you to read DVD data and back up data on CDs. Optionally you may choose a double-layer burning SuperDrive (DVD-R/CD-RW), permitting data archival and backup to DVD-R media.
SATA and SAS storage
Xserve delivers industry-leading capacity and performance, allowing you to configure Xserve for a broader range of applications and to address your specific application requirements. Take advantage of software RAID 0 and 1 built-in Mac OS X Server, or add the optional Xserve RAID card for the performance and protection of hardware RAID 0, 1 and 5 and an integrated cache battery backup. A new 750GB hard drive utilizes perpendicular recording to achieve greater capacity while increasing performance, and provides up to 2.25TB capacity in a 1U form. For the highest performance available today, take advantage of the 15,000-rpm SAS drives. These deliver higher sequential performance (up to 126MB/s) and outstanding random access performance for the most demanding applications. Best-in-class mean time between failure (MTBF) ratings means you can trust Xserve to deliver ultimate reliability for critical server environments.
Dual onboard Gigabit Ethernet
Ethernet implementation on the Xserve includes two independent 10/100/1000BASE-T (Gigabit) RJ-45 Ethernet interfaces on the main logic board. Tuned for server performance, the Gigabit Ethernet controller provides hardware-generated TCP, IP, and UDP hardware checksum offload for both IPv4 and IPv6 to detect packet corruption and transmission errors while reducing CPU utillization. Hardware-enabled 802.1q VLAN (Virtual LAN) tags let you group systems on different physical LANs and provide discrete services to them — as if they were on separate, physical LANs. A 48Kb buffer supports jumbo frames, or packets up to 9KB, to reduce system overhead and increase throughput of all network activities.
FireWire, Serial, and USB Ports
Two FireWire 800 ports on the back panel and one FireWire 400 port on the front panel connect to high-bandwidth FireWire (IEEE 1394) devices. In addition, you can use TCP/IP over FireWire to network machines and clone configurations easily using FireWire Target Disk Mode. An industry-standard 9-pin serial port lets you access the system through a serial console session. Two USB 2.0 ports let you connect Xserve to industry-standard mice and keyboards.
- Testing conducted by Apple in October 2006 using preproduction quad 3.0GHz Xeon-based Xserve units; Xserve G5 systems were shipping units. Estimated SPECint_rate_base2000 score: 112.0 for quad 3.0GHz Xeon system and 21.1 for dual 2.3GHz G5 system. Estimated SPECfp_rate_base2000 score: 76.2 for quad 3.0GHz Xeon system and 20.4 for dual 2.3GHz G5 system. SPEC®, SPECfp®, and SPECint® are registered trademarks of the Standard Performance Evaluation Corporation (SPEC); see www.spec.org for more information.
Outstanding Storage Performance
Superior throughput and access times
SAS Drive 300GB 15,000-rpm
126MB/sSATA Drive 750GB 7200-rpm
76MB/s Iometer megabytes per secondSAS Drive 300GB 15,000-rpm
3.5msSATA Drive 750GB 7200-rpm
8.0ms Average seek time (shorter is better)Testing conducted by Apple in October 2006 using preproduction quad 3.0GHz Xeon-based Xserve units. Testing was conducted using Iometer 2004.07.03 with a 30-second ramp-up, a 2-minute run duration, and a 512KB request size. Each system was configured as an OS + test disk configuration, where the OS resides on a single dedicated drive, and Iometer tests are performed against the second drive. Drive average seek time from published manufacturer specifications. Performance tests are conducted using specific computer systems and reflect the approximate performance of Xserve.
Xserve RAID Card Performance
SAS and SATA three drive RAID 5 performance
RAID 5 Sequential Read 3x750GB SATA 7200-rpm
150MB/sRAID 5 Sequential Write 3x750GB SATA 7200-rpm
128MB/s Iometer megabytes per secondRAID 5 Sequential Read 3x300GB SAS 15,000-rpm
198MB/sRAID 5 Sequential Write 3x300GB SAS 15,000-rpm
186MB/s Iometer megabytes per secondTesting conducted by Apple in July 2007 using preproduction Xserve RAID Card units and software, and shipping quad 3.0GHz Xeon-based Xserve units. Testing was conducted using Iometer 2006.07.27 with a 30-second ramp-up, 5-minute run duration, 512KB request size, and 4 outstanding IOs. Each system was configured as a single-volume test RAID configuration, where the OS resides on the same internal RAID volume on which Iometer tests are performed. Performance tests are conducted using specific computer systems and reflect the approximate performance of Xserve RAID Card.
Massive Memory Bandwidth
STREAM performance
Xserve Four 1GB 667MHz DDR FB-DIMMs
2.1xXserve G5 Four 1GB 400MHZ DDR1 DIMMs
Baseline Megabytes per secondTesting conducted by Apple in October 2006 using preproduction quad 3.0GHz Xeon-based Xserve units; Xserve G5 systems were shipping units. All systems were configured with 4GB of RAM. Results are based on the STREAM v. 5.6 benchmark using OMP support for multiprocessor-compiled builds and optimized for ICC (for quad Xeon-based Xserve) or XLC (for Xserve G5). Performance tests are conducted using specific computer systems and reflect the approximate performance of Xserve.
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