Apple has received another thumbs-up from a PC publication. Following raves over the new iMac and Jaguar by PC Magazine and award nominations for the iMac and iPod by PC World , PC Magazine has given the Xserve rackmount server four out of five stars.
“The Apple Xserve server, equipped with the new Mac OS X Server 10.2 operating system, defies categorization: It does many things well and at an affordable price,” the review notes. “This rack-mountable (1U) server’s flexibility comes from the combination of robust hardware, a great OS, and extensive software for almost every task you might expect from a server. The end result is a powerful file, Web, custom application, videoconferencing and streaming audio and video server.”
The fact that the Xserve comes with an unlimited license for Mac OS X Server makes it a “well-appointed and economical server solution,” the review adds. PC Magazine also points out that the base configuration of the Xserve is several hundred dollars less than a similarly equipped Dell PowerEdge 350.
The review praises the Xserve for its ease of configuration, simplicity of administration and software bundle. “In short, the Xserve is an impressive server with a multitude of potential uses, excellent ease of use, plenty of storage, and a software configuration that allows for an unlimited number of connections — all at a truly reasonable price,” PC Magazine concludes.