Apple moves into Asian server market

NEWS

Apple has its sights fixed on Asia's multimedia streaming, education and biotech markets as it gears up to push its recently launched Xserve rack-mounted server. Asia's server market is dominated by deeply entrenched brand names such as Sun Microsystems, IBM and Hewlett-Packard. But there is room for a newcomer like Apple, asserts Albert Lam, Apple's South Asia managing director. The Xserve is Apple's first rack-mounted server. It uses one unit of rack space and runs the Unix-based Mac OS X operating system. Frontline Technologies, a Singapore-based IT services company, will resell the Xserve in Asia. Cheong Yen Niap, Frontline's managing director, said that despite the Xserve's late start, there are niches it can compete in. He named Asia's growing life sciences and biotech fields as potential markets, where molecular modelling and number-crunching computers will be in demand. Unix administrators will find the interface familiar, he said, because Mac OS X is based on Unix, the most common large-server operating system. Apple is confident the Xserve's price will be another compelling factor for companies to snap up the machine. As an example, an Xserve with dual 1GHz PowerPC processors, 512MB of memory, dual gigabit Ethernet and 480GB of storage will cost $5,646. Its closest competitor is a $6,025 IBM xSeries 330 with dual Intel Pentium III processors, 512MB of memory, 146GB of storage and the open-source Linux OS. A Dell PowerEdge 1650 with dual 1.4GHz Pentium III chips, 512MB of memory and 146GB of storage will cost $7,496 -- with the catch that only 25 clients are allowed to connect to its Windows 2000 operating system.

More enterprise IT news in ZDNet UK's Tech Update Channel.

For a weekly round-up of the enterprise IT news, sign up for the Tech Update newsletter. Have your say instantly, and see what others have said. Go to the ZDNet news forum. Let the editors know what you think in the Mailroom.

Post your comment

In order to post a comment you need to be registered and logged in.

You can also log in with Facebook. Log in or create your ZDNet UK account below

By signing up for this service, you indicate that you agree to our Terms and Conditions and have read and understood our Privacy Policy. Questions about membership? Find the answers in the Community FAQ

ZDNet UK Live

ike fuelband is great for every healthminded person ! to work out! theres this website called textme4free.com that you can use to text anywhere in...

5 hours ago by bordero on Nike's FuelBand wristband gamifies exercise

> I'm told it's somewhat annoying when people have their Macs stolen > and Apple stores treat the thief as the owner, but there you go. Ouch,...

7 hours ago by BrownieBoy on AMD Ultrathins to challenge Intel Ultrabooks

@kevinmchapman. OK, I acknowledge that 'most' was a gratuitous throwaway comment as an afterthought and too presumptuous. As to proof, as you...

11 hours ago by Moley on A tale of two distros: Ubuntu and Linux Mint

@BrownieBoy > Works really well for thieves.... >> Nice attempt to deflect the argument by tossing in a point that's totally >> irrelevant, even...

13 hours ago by Jack Schofield on AMD Ultrathins to challenge Intel Ultrabooks

fantastic that the so called piracy bills have been withdrawn. however, these anti-democracy supporters are still in the shadows so lets be alert...

13 hours ago by raskolnikof on SOPA, Protect IP support wavers in face of online protest

Please God no; teach them anything you like - thinking rationally, the uses and misuses of data, what data is and what it's not - but leave the...

16 hours ago by Tony Douglas via Facebook on Kids are the future. Teach ’em to code.

@Jack, > Works really well for thieves.... Nice attempt to deflect the argument by tossing in a point that's totally irrelevant, even it were...

1 day ago by BrownieBoy on AMD Ultrathins to challenge Intel Ultrabooks

Make that 13 people now - I got refused today at Manchester airport. I thought I was up to date on this legislation - I knew of the EU ruling from...

1 day ago by bootlegger on UK airport body scans will not be opt out

Don't forget to check out apps like GoodReader or SlideShark either, they're indispensible for people on the go in presentation situations. Best...

1 day ago by tinycg on Four top iPad apps for people on the move

Well it seems there is something a number of us agree on. Why is the Ubuntu Unity launcher so ugly? I thought perhaps it was something to do with...

2 days ago by TerryRK on A tale of two distros: Ubuntu and Linux Mint

Duplicate comments are not made intentionally. Its very good to know that now you are keeping check on this problem because sometimes a commenter...

2 days ago by Freebies202 on Microsoft fixes blog comments, speeds up blogs with open source

"the very significant number of users" and "many (most) of us" - you have no evidence for these statements. It is a fact that most users are saying...

2 days ago by kevinmchapman on A tale of two distros: Ubuntu and Linux Mint