Xserve G5 Shipping, Apple Introduces Bio Sciences Cluster

by , 11:00 AM EST, March 23rd, 2004

Apple announced today that the Xserve G5, unveiled during Macworld San Francisco in January, is shipping. The Xserve G5 uses a new version of the G5 processor from IBM that uses less power and generates less heat than the version used in Apple's current Power Mac G5 models. The Xserve line itself is a major component of Apple's push into the new server-oriented markets such as rendering farms, IT server rooms, and even scientific uses, which brings us to Apple's other announcement today, a new bio sciences cluster.

The company has announced the Apple Workgroup Cluster for Bioinformatics. The Cluster is based on the Xserve G5, and, as the name implies, is configured specifically for bio sciences. The solution comes with a software package from The Bio Team. From Apple's press release:

Apple today announced it has begun shipping its Xserve G5, the most powerful Xserve yet, to customers. With unparalleled performance and manageability, Xserve G5 delivers over 30 gigaflops of processing power per system -- about 60 percent more than the PowerPC G4-based Xserve -- in a 1U rack-mount enclosure.

Apple has also introduced the Apple Workgroup Cluster for Bioinformatics, a turnkey, high-performance computing cluster that allows any scientist to configure, operate and maintain the system. The workgroup cluster solution offers outstanding price-performance with unrivaled ease of setup and includes iNquiry, a 3rd-party bioinformatics package from The BioTeam that provides 200 ready-to-use bioinformatics applications optimized for Apple's industry-leading Xserve G5. Installation and maintenance have also been greatly simplified so little or no IT support is required.

Pricing for the Xserve G5 starts at US$2,999 for a single processor 2 GHz unit. As of this writing, we could not find additional information on the Apple Workgroup Cluster for Bioinformatics on Apple's site. You can find more information on The BioTeam's Mac OS X offerings at that company's Web site.

The Mac Observer Spin:

We very much like seeing Apple offering solutions targeted for niche markets. The company doesn't have the resources to offer such solutions for every potential niche, but the bio science market is an easy one in that it has fully embraced the Mac platform. Going forward, it's likely going to take such specialized solutions for Apple to expand its presence in other IT markets.

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