Nehalem Xserves soon?

Apple will introduce an updated line of Xserves within the next few weeks, connected sources are said to claim. The servers, designed for 1U rackmounts, are also said to be based on Intel's Nehalem platform, specifically the Xeon 3500 and 5500 processors originally introduced with the latest Mac Pro. Should they mirror configurations of current Xserves, the new ones are predicted to be divided into single-processor 2.66, 2.93 and 3.2GHz models, alongside 2.26, 2.66, 2.8 and 2.93GHz dual-processor options.

Nehalem Xeons are said to consume only 10W of power when idling, a 50 percent reduction over the previous generation. They should also be as much as 500 percent faster in some operations, for instance loading Microsoft SQL queries in 10 seconds rather than three minutes. Part of the speed derives from Turbo Boost, which overclocks a processor to cope with some demands.

Added evidence for the arrival of new Xserves derives from recent shipping estimates, which have extended to as long as one or two weeks, though in the past few days have shrunk again to between five and seven days. Apple Store representatives are said to be notifying customers of delays, promising upgrades, modifications or cancellations of orders when the new Xserves are announced.

by MacNN Staff