Unfortunately Apple's product arrived too late to run the complete series of tests.
While the Apple solution consumes more rack space than any of the other solutions tested (4RU) it does feature more drive bays than any of the other solutions -- 14 in total, compared to the EMC's 12 bays. And Apple really packs in high-capacity drives.
The test unit was delivered with 5.6TB, its maximum, on board which far exceeds any of the other units tested, in terms of internal capacity. In most cases the Apple exceeds the other units' total storage capacity with external arrays. Multiple Xserve RAID arrays can be configured to support a single partition up to 16TB is size.
The XServe G5 is gorgeous once you take the lid off, and the attention to detail in the internal layout is first class. The XServe RAID box is built like the proverbial tank, and it is a two person exercise to move it about.
The RAID unit has two sets of "Drive Modules", ie, the 14 PATA drives are divided equally into two sets of seven, each with its own controller. It's a pity but the drive controllers do not seem to load share or provide redundancy should one fail.
The XServe RAID is more serious than the Server with regards to redundancy, as mentioned there are two controllers each with their own gigabit Ethernet, Fibre Channel, and power supplies. The drive cradles are the most impressive we have seen with a rugged construction and silky-smooth insertion and removal. There is also a drive lock to prevent unauthorised removal of the drives, a wise addition.
While not as familiar with Apples OS as Windows for example, we were nevertheless surprised that the configuration of the XServe G5 and XServe RAID was not as simple as the Windows-based NAS. Installing the OS and configuring the XServe itself was in fact simpler than setting up a Windows server but when it came to connecting to and configuring the XServe RAID it was not as simple as it should have been. At one stage we could not "find" the XServe RAID with the RAID Administration tool until we performed a cold boot on the RAID box. It is a shame that we did not receive the Apple NAS solution in time to carry out performance testing as we feel it would be a serious contender for Editor's Choice given its exceptional storage capacity and features.
