Apple’s new Xserve rack-mounted server may be a contender for lucrative federal government contracts, according to a recent article in Federal Computer Week .
Author John Zyskowski said that at least initially, Apple’s inroads to Xserve government contracts would probably be the same federal agencies that use Macs for everything from general office work to scientific applications.
Zyskowski cited one research scientist employed by NASA who told him that the space agency’s response to Xserve has been “favorable,” and that they’d “probably use them to set up a render farm, if we had the money.”
Zyskowski noted that Apple’s price for the Xserve is competitive compared with its PC-based alternatives. The box’s OS X-based underpinnings help to set it apart from the rest, as does the easy-to-use management software bundled with the Xserve.