There are, it has to be said, cheaper ways to build a server. If you really must test a lot of Apple hardware at once though, it’s at least feasible.
Image: Steve
The interesting thing about this particular hack, cost and Mac fanaticism/hatred notwithstanding, is how it’s been managed. 96 MacBook Pros are going to pump out a lot of heat, after all.
To combat that, three Macbook Pros sit in each bay of a server rack, separated by 3D printed spacers to keep the lids open 7mm and give them separation for cooling purposes. Exhaust fans pull the hot air away from both the MacBook Pros and their power bricks, and finally thermocouples monitor the temperature of each MacBook unit individually.
96 MacBook Pro’s in one rack [Steve’s Blog via HackADay]
Comments
6 responses to “Make A Server Rack Out Of 96 MacBook Pros”
Great way to blow nearly a quarter of a million dollars.
Wow ! I hope they really needed the Macbooks for their testing purposes or whatever the reason for it is… Pretty cool rack though
A server rack is the structure that holds the servers. Or so we are told in our multiple national data centres.
I laughed at the comment “I would do anything to motorboat that rack!”
The sexual innuendo was not lost on me.
Hey I have three of those trolleys in my office! God they’re terrible at moving stuff from building to building up hill. Beth, Bertha and Bessie just have no suspension.
Like the photos of the people filling server racks with Raspberry Pi’s you have to ask: WHY?