When Apple’s Mac OS X Server software was updated last month, Apple noted a configuration that bundled the Mac OS X Server software together with a 733MHz Power Mac G4. Now, Apple offers two additional Macintosh Server G4 configurations that sport 800MHz dual processors, as well. The new systems are available directly from the online Apple Store. The 733MHz system is still available, as well.
What’s the benefit of a dual-processor server? Both Mac OS X and Mac OS X Server have been engineered from the ground up to support symmetric multiprocessing. This means that the server allocates tasks to both processors, which let them do almost as twice as much work in the same amount of time, according to Apple.
The “Faster” and “Fastest” systems share some common traits — both come configured with Mac OS X Server software already installed, and both feature 800MHz PowerPC G4 processors. Both also feature 256K of Level 2 Cache, as well as 2MB of Level 3 Cache per processor. Each system sports a CD-RW drive, Nvidia GeForce2 MX-based graphics cards, Gigabit (10/100/1000baseT) Ethernet, two USB ports and two FireWire ports.
The difference between the two is in the memory and storage configurations, and, of course, the price. The “Faster” system comes equipped with 256MB of PC-133 SDRAM installed, and has an 80GB Ultra ATA drive running at 7200 RPG. The “Fastest” system comes with a full gigabyte of SDRAM installed and feature 2 80GB Ultra ATA drives. The “Faster” system weighs in at US$3,799, while the “Fastest” system will set you back $4,749.
If you’re not ready to invest in new hardware, you can buy Mac OS X Server software separately, too. More details are available from Apple’s Web site.