A major (and quite legitimate) complaint of System Admins in a post-Xserve world is that Apple doesn’t offer a rack-mountable server anymore.
Yes, there are options, but until this week, none that I saw were too impressive.
Enter the RackMac mini by Sonnet. The company has built a 1U enclosure that holds two “unibody” Mac minis, side-by-side.
At 11-inches deep, it’s great for even small racks, and offers the user easy access to the SuperDrive, power LED and infrared port. Sonnet’s mount also includes a front-facing power button and USB port for each Mac mini, meaning users don’t have to dig around blindly behind the rack to power the machines on or plug in a keyboard or USB drive:
The inside lid is padded, to keep the Mac minis snuggly in place, and the rack has built-in airflow to keep the machines cool:
The RackMac is for sale now at $169. Ordering can be done via Sonnet’s website or any of the company’s resellers.
I’m excited about this product. At work, I’m implementing around 20 Mac minis in racks in the next 18 months in a single building. Now I know how I’m going to do it.
While this doesn’t take the sting away from the Xserve being discontinued, it makes using Mac minis a lot easier, and a lot more graceful.
Images Via Sonnet
