Prepress networking software maker Xinet has posted its 2002 Benchmarked Configurations list. This year’s roster includes Apple’s new Mac OS X Server-based Xserve. The Xserve did quite well compared with some of the other offerings in a mixed test.
Xinet tested the performance of various file servers under two specific conditions. One test was designed to show overall AppleShare file-serving performance, and the other test emphasized the speed of output generation.
In either circumstance, the network topology was the same: a single Copper Gigabit network with a single switch. All tests also utilized a single RAID/disk on a single controller. “This is a significant factor, especially when measuring writing performance,” noted Xinet. “This round of benchmarks proved that Copper Gigabit technology is reliable.”
For output generation, Xinet’s tests showed that the Apple Xserve produced more pages per minute than a dual-processor Windows 2000-based system, a dual-processor Power Mac G4 and a dual-processor Sun Fire 280R server. The results were consistent up to 12 pages per minute, according to Xinet’s results. SGI 300 and 3200 servers, and Sun Fire 880 and 4800 servers outpaced the Xserve — those configurations had 4, 8 or 12 CPUS, however.
In Photoshop opens, the Xserve performed quite admirably, too, pulling out the third best performance of any server under simulated loads of 8 to 10 clients. In fact, the only two servers to beat the Xserve were Sun’s Fire 880 and 4800 systems — 4 and 12 CPU-based server configurations. All others, including the 8 processor SGI 3200, faded as the client load increased.
Xinet makes a variety of prepress networking software, including K-AShare, Venture and FullPress. More details on the test, including a downloadable PDF, are available from Xinet’s Web site.