Xserve RAID (SFP Late 2004)

Background

Xserve RAID holds up to 14 hot-swappable Ultra-ATA hard drives with a maximum capacity of 10.5 TB when filled with 750 GB modules. Xserve RAID can be configured for most RAID levels. It is rack-mountable and is 3U high. Xserve RAID manages its hard drives with two identical RAID controller chipsets. The controllers are independent, but not redundant; each manages seven of the storage array's fourteen drives, given a failure of one of the controllers the other cannot take over its duties. Xserve RAID does, however, have redundant cooling units and power supplies. Xserve RAID's ports are two Fibre Channel ports for regular data transfer, a 10/100 Ethernet port for remote management, and a serial port for UPS communication via the Simple Signalling Protocol. Apple marketed Xserve RAID mainly as a companion to Xserve in file server and high-performance technical computing applications, but the storage array is also useful in some professional environments such as non-linear video editing. Xserve RAID was available in models costing between $5,999 U.S. and $12,999 U.S., plus configuration and support options. The Xserve RAID was discontinued on February 19, 2008.