"Renting" hardware that you "own" is relatively normal. E.g. buy a 1U server with everything from a <provider>, pay some subscription fee so they keep upgrading

"Renting" hardware that you "own" is relatively normal. E.g. buy a 1U server with everything from a <provider>, pay some subscription fee so they keep upgrading it to the latest thing. It's a way to shift inventory management to the supplier, the alternative would be to employ people to try to sell used 1U servers & components. Those companies will then pick up your used server, wipe it, and sell it to someone else. Depending on the contract that'll include physically intact hard drives.