A reader of the popular rumor site AppleInsider posted pictures of what appears to be a SATA-based Xserve RAID, internally codenamed “Q57″.

The exterior doesn’t look much different from the current Xserve RAID offering, save for the addition of 4 Fibre Channel activity lights on the front panel, which now total 6.

The drive modules themselves look identical to the current SATA offerings available on Xserve G5 and newer systems, though there may be discrepancies. (One might hope that future modules can be hot-swapped between both Xserve and Xserve RAID.)

The controller card is also different, obviously supporting the SATA drive modules and moving away from the ATA RAID controllers of present. Due to the increased bandwidth (3Gbps) and lower power consumption of SATA, the enclosure may not require nearly as much cooling, resulting in quieter, more efficient operation.

Based on the lesser cooling requirement, the Fibre Channel ports have now moved from the back of the controller board and onto the blower module. A total of 6 ports are now available (as opposed to the standard 2 on the current Xserve RAID.) No information exists on how the additional 4 ports may be used, but I suspect the FC ports may support aggregation, or at least, automatic failover in the event of a link interruption. It may also act as a simple switch supporting arbitrated loop or switched fabric, which would also be very much welcomed.

The prototype shown only contained one controller module. The lower slot is filled with a blank panel. Though not present, it can be assumed that the second module will also contain an Ethernet and UPS serial port. Whether the lower blower module will add an additional 6 fibre channel ports is yet to be seen.

Also unknown is the release timeframe, and of course, pricing. It would be a beneficial step, in my opinion, if Apple maximized parts compatibility (power supply, cache battery backup modules) for organizations who have purchased spare parts kits. Looking at the enclosure, that appears to be the case but one can never be too certain.