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Xserve disappears from Apple's Education stores

by Christina Warren Feb 21st 2008 at 6:00PM

Tuesday's launch of Xsan 2 coincided with the discontinuation of Apple's Xserve RAID Enterprise storage system. For shopper's at the Apple Store for Education, it appears that the Xserve in general has been completely removed as well. Although refurbished Xserve servers still come up under a search (as do Xserve parts and accessories), the product page for Xserve is conspicuously missing.

Take a look at these screen shots, one is from the regular Apple Store, the other is from Apple Store for Education:



Where art thou, Xserve?

We're not sure if this was just a simple oversight or a sign of trends to come. It's possible Apple wasn't seeing the sales for the Xserve product at the Education store to warrant whatever hardware discount they might have offered. I also think it's possible that schools interested in getting an Xserve setup from Apple could probably do better the direct sales route, as opposed to using the web-based one-stop shop.

Whatever the reason, it is a bizarre exclusion -- and the first time I can recall an entire product being removed from one of Apple's pre-labeled storefronts.

Thanks to everyone who sent this in!


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Tuesday's launch of Xsan 2 coincided with the discontinuation of Apple's Xserve RAID Enterprise storage system. For shopper's at the Apple...
 

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Gregory Cohen

Back when I got my g5 x-serve it was not on the education site either. I just ordered it from the mac store on campus and it came in just fine.

I bet you can still do that.

February 22 2008 at 8:58 PM Report abuse rate up rate down Reply
badweasel

I'm not sure all products are available for educational discounts. Maybe Apple doesn't think that students would have a legitimate reason to use a server for educational use.

February 22 2008 at 4:36 AM Report abuse rate up rate down Reply
Jason Bush

Why does Apple expect good sales of Xserves or Xserve Raids when the haven't done jack to support it. Enterprise is like the bastard stepchild of Apple. OSX Server is awesome when I demo it for clients, but they get turned off by the support and follow thorough of the division. Get serious about enterprise or just get out of the game Apple.

February 22 2008 at 12:22 AM Report abuse rate up rate down Reply
kikuchiyo ali

Where for art though, doesn't mean where, as in location, it means why. Read a book for God's sake.

February 21 2008 at 11:26 PM Report abuse rate up rate down Reply
2 replies to kikuchiyo ali's comment
Michael Rose

kikuchiyo -- the caption says "Where art thou," not "wherefore art thou." Read the post, for God's sake, before you betray your own ignor... oh, too late.

:-)

(Having been bit by the wherefore/where error myself, I was not about to let Christina fall victim. http://www.tuaw.com/2007/09/28/wherefore-art-thou-final-cut-server/ )

February 21 2008 at 11:57 PM Report abuse rate up rate down Reply
Michael Rose

And, by the way... "where for art though" doesn't appear anywhere in the post, nor in all of Shakespeare. If you're going to take the time to criticize other people's education (or lack thereof), well, you stand a better chance of gaining the literary high ground if you get the spelling right.

Ah, that feels better. Thanks for letting me work out some of the day's frustrations on you. Much appreciated!

February 22 2008 at 12:04 AM Report abuse rate up rate down Reply
williamlane

http://www.macworld.com/article/132164/2008/02/raid.html

Where it says....

"Apple on Tuesday quietly discontinued its Xserve RAID enterprise storage product line. It disappeared from the online Apple Store shortly after the company introduced Xsan 2 this morning. Industry analysts don’t believe the discontinuation will have a negative impact on the company’s enterprise market."

Might this have anything to do with it?

February 21 2008 at 11:15 PM Report abuse rate up rate down Reply
Trevor

Typo: "For shopper's at the Apple Store" --> "For shoppers at the Apple Store"

February 21 2008 at 10:55 PM Report abuse rate up rate down Reply
gmacman

Yeah, I went to my school's store, and Xserve is there, and it has never been on the personal store, as far as I have known.

February 21 2008 at 9:22 PM Report abuse rate up rate down Reply
Bill Eccles

On the other hand, OSX Server has been missing from the EduStore for several years now, so it wouldn't be much of a surprise to me at all to see that they're missing. I presume you can still purchase OSXS if you're one of the designated purchasers for your institution.

February 21 2008 at 7:37 PM Report abuse rate up rate down Reply
Tallman610

Searching xServe at the education institution store yields the same old xServe page with all configurations and showing 1-3 days delivery. We have been running G4 and a G5 xServes 24/7 for years and I have hopes of budgeting at least 2 more for the coming year. I hope that we have a refresh coming instead of being pushed into a Mac Pro.

February 21 2008 at 7:37 PM Report abuse rate up rate down Reply
shaun

If they were stopping the discount on Xserve it wouldn't be removed from the store, it would just be present minus the discount.
iPods, iPhone and Apple TV don't have discounts (dammit! I need an iPhone for erm...study) and they're still on the store

February 21 2008 at 6:51 PM Report abuse rate up rate down Reply
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