Apple ServersA friend of mine (cheers, Peter!) just linked me this image (apparently originally from Engadget) that shows the hardware that Apple brought to this week’s National Association of Broadcasters (NAB) conference.
Once I got over just how sexy the hardware was, and how impeccable their cable management is, I thought, “Isn’t that a lot of gear to lug to just one show?  What is it they’re doing that they’d justify spending so much money on carrying that stuff to a show floor?”

Right after that, I realized what a silly question that was.  Anyway, I love how symmetrical and sterile their gear looks.  It’s the kind of equipment you’d expect to see in a movie where the hero breaks into the super-computer-room (every big company has one, right?) and uses the robot arm to grab the shiny, translucent computer disk out of the exact drive bay he needs.

If you’ve never been to a real network operations center, you’ll know just how rare a sight this is.  I’m sure these racks of servers are as much for show as they are for go. 

Great job, Apple.