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Comment by mcculley | Hacker News Reader

This makes me wonder what Apple uses and will use in their own data centers. Will they continue to use Xserves and maintain that line for their own use?

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For at least some things, they're using Oracle Unbreakable Linux, not Mac OS X.

(Oracle Enterprise/Unbreakable Linux is basically just rebranded Red Hat Enterprise.)

I'd be surprised if they were using Xserves at any scale in their datacentres - it's not really what the Xserve was suitable for. By Netcraft, the Apple domains that aren't on Akamai are mostly 'unknown' rather than 'macosx': http://searchdns.netcraft.com/?host=apple.com

A very fair question. What with the new data center (Maiden NC) I've been wondering how they planned to populate it. Obviously Google took a different path with DC infrastructure (custom design, custom build). Could it be that Apple is going to follow ? Or will they buy large quantities of Sun or IBM systems. The latter would certainly indicate a sea change (after the AIM disintegration).

Note that nothing I've read so far this morning indicates that OS X Server is being deprecated, only the XServe line. XServe RAID went away a few years back. Is it possible that Apple plans to continue using OS X Server under virtualization (on other branded hardware) ? That would be a really big deal.

If they take the eat-your-own-dog-food approach, they might install a fair share of Mac Mini Servers. They aren't nearly as powerful as the deprecated Xserve, but they sip energy, an important consideration in a data center. Depending on them for infrastructure would encourage Apple to make them more robust. With low energy consumption and a nice form factor, improving performance could make them more of a contender than Xserve ever was.

That would be a big deal if they supported virtualization on other hardware. Is it possible that it's a first step towards a more open (in regards to hardware requirements) OS X in general?

I–personally–like OS X server for a lot of applications. But, the bottom line is important for businesses and private consumers. XServes never fit into that consideration as well as they could have.

Expect an announcement soon that we'll be able to install OS X Server inside ESX or similar virtualized environment. (or so a reliable source tells me…)

Gruber doesn't think they will be using Xserves: http://daringfireball.net/linked/2010/10/22/gosling-java-mac...

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