RACKMAC PRO

Mac racks seem to be the flavour of the month of late, with a number of mounting solutions being released within weeks of each other. This new one comes from the same people who gave us the xMac, which we featured a few weeks back (you can read about that here) and supports the installation of one or two Mac Pros mounted side by side in a 4U rack space.

The RackMac Pro comes in two flavours, the first is for a single Mac Pro, leaving space for an optional second computer, with a second version optimised for two Macs.

The unit features a steel outer enclosure and lined it with soft-touch padding to hold the computer firmly in place while safeguarding its finish. The rackmount solution is good for use in a wide range of popular mobile racks, carts, and rack cases, as well as in a server room.

The Mac Pro’s cylindrical core employs a single large fan that quietly and efficiently cools the computer, drawing in cool air through the bottom and expelling warm air through the top. Mounted on their sides inside RackMac Pro, each computer’s airflow path remains unchanged and unobstructed. Full, independent airflow through the computer is maintained consistently within Apple’s usage guidelines, even when the RackMac Pro is installed between other equipment in a loaded rack.

Similar to the xMac, this new unit extends each Mac Pro’s Gigabit Ethernet, USB 3.0, HDMI, and power interfaces to panel-mounted connectors on the back of the unit for easy external cable connection. A USB 3.0 interface and power switch are mounted on the front to enable the user to conveniently connect a USB peripheral and turn the Mac on/off.

Since panel-mount connectors for Thunderbolt cables don’t exist, each Mounting Module provides cable management tie-downs for securing all Thunderbolt cables that are connected to each Mac during installation. The unit also includes mounting support for specialty network interface Thunderbolt adapters such as Promise Technology SANLink2 Fibre Channel adapters.

“From the day the new Mac Pro was announced, we immediately began receiving requests for a rackmount solution,” said Robert Farnsworth, CEO of Sonnet Technologies. “With the success of our RackMac mini rackmount enclosure for Mac mini computers, it was logical that our customers immediately looked to Sonnet to design a solution for properly rack-mounting the new Mac Pro. We feel we have delivered the best combination of functionality, ruggedness, and efficient utilization of space.”

Price and Availability.

The RackMac Pro 1x (part number RACK-PRO-1X) has a suggested retail price of US$599; the RackMac Pro 2x (part number RACK-PRO-2X) has a suggested retail price of US$869; and the optional RackMac Pro Computer Mounting Module (part number RACK-PRO-MM) has a suggested retail price of US$299. All models are immediately available. More information on the RackMac Pro is available at www.sonnettech.com.

Excerpts from Press Release