March 8, 2005 | Introduction of the rackable Xserve moved Apple into the high-performance computing club, and introduction of the Workgroup Cluster for Bioinformatics (8 to 32 processors, rack, iNquiry cluster configuration tool bundled with 200 informatics applications) has made it easy for researchers to set up shop fast.

Vital Statistics

Size and weight: 1U (1.75 in x 17.6 in x 28 in); 33 to 37 pounds (pending number of drives)

Processors: Single G5 running at 2.0 GHz or dual G5s at 2.3 GHz

Frontside bus: 1 GHz (single processor); 1.5 GHz (dual processors)

Slots: Two full-length 64-bit PCI-X slots

Memory: 8GB RAM maximum

Storage: 80GB serial ATA drive plus two more drive bays

I/O: Two onboard gigabit ethernet; two Firewire 800; one Firewire 400; two USB 2.0, one DB-9 (RS-232)

OS: Mac OS X 10.3

Cost: Roughly $3,000 to $4,000 pending configuration (list price)

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