Apple's Xserve looks pretty, but it's louder than a kookaburra in a vise. So, GizMac Accessories has stepped forward with a new Xserve-muting cabinet.

GizMac already sells 25U and 12U systems to house Xserve servers and RAID storage systems. Now, it's offering up a 4U cabinet that can fit underneath or on top of a desk. The company expects the XRackPro2 enclosure to appeal to smaller customers who value their hearing and suffer from a space crunch.

"Noise reduction is probably the biggest thing people are looking for," GizMac marketing director Ken Vitto told us.

Customers can slot four XServe servers into the new enclosure or pop in one server and a 3U RAID box. That basically lets you set up an XSAN (storage area network) in a can.

The Xserve garnered tons of press when it first arrived in May of 2002. Apple even managed to creep onto the list of the top five US server sellers one quarter thanks to the product. Since the launch, however, the Xserve buzz has died down a bit.

Vitto feels a comeback is in the works.

"I think interest has actually picked up," he said. "I have seen a lot of people adopting the Xserve and especially the Xserve RAID."

The 4U enclosure will be available with legs or wheels and has lockable doors. It will, of course, hold rack-mount servers from other vendors as well.

You can find more information on the enclosure, which starts shipping next month at $499 on the GizMac site. ®