Rackmount 1U System With PCIe 2.0 by Sonnet

Sonnet Technologies, Inc. introduced the RackMac mini Xserver rackmount 1U system with a PCIe 2.0 expansion slot for Thunderbolt-technology-enabled Mac mini computers at IBC2011.

This system mounts a Mac mini inside a 1U enclosure, which also contains one PCIe 2.0 x4 slot, a 75W power supply, plus a Thunderbolt daisy-chain port.

This system enables users to connect one half-length PCIe 2.0 adapter card to the Mac mini via a Thunderbolt cable, while allowing the connection of additional Thunderbolt peripherals to the daisy-chain Thunderbolt port. The enclosure also delivers airflow cooling to the computer, provides a front-panel power button and USB port, and can automatically power on/off the PCIe expansion slot with the Mac mini.

The RackMac mini Xserver supports one half-length, x16 (x4 mode), PCIe 2.0 card to enable the use of professional video capture cards, 8Gb FC cards, 10GbE cards, and RAID controller cards with a racked Mac mini, all in a 1U rack space. This enhanced connectivity boosts the computer’s potential as a server.

With the addition of a FC adapter card plugged into the integrated PCIe 2.0 slot plus an Ethernet adapter (either connected to the computer’s USB port or to the second Thunderbolt port via Sonnet’s Echo ExpressCard/34 Thunderbolt Adapter), RackMac mini Xserver can transform a Mac mini into a full-function metadata controller for an Xsan or metaSAN metadata master. Racking up a second RackMac mini Xserver provides two redundant metadata controllers occupying a total of 2U of rack space.

RackMac mini Xserver can expand a Mac mini’s potential uses in other ways. For example, users can install a high-performance video capture card and connect a Sonnet Qio Professional Universal Media reader through Sonnet’s Echo ExpressCard/34 Thunderbolt Adapter to the extra Thunderbolt port to deploy video capture services to a workgroup. With the addition of one or more storage systems connected to a RAID controller, users can deploy virtually unlimited RAID-protected shared storage across the network.

"With the discontinuation of Apple’s Xserve, there has been a gap in the market that the Mac mini Server has not been able to address by itself," said Robert Farnsworth, CEO of Sonnet Technologies. "The RackMac mini Xserver gives the Mac mini Server the ability to handle a new range of services. This powerful computer can now meet its full potential as the heart of mission-critical server environments. The possibilities are nearly limitless."

The RackMac mini Xserver is expected to be available at the end of November, with pricing to be announced at a later date.