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I've always ignored advice even people say somethings too hard or not worth it. And I pretty much never regret it. I absolutely regret trying to get a used rac

I've always ignored advice even people say somethings too hard or not worth it. And I pretty much never regret it. I absolutely regret trying to get a used rack mount server running. The combination of steep learning curve from workstations to server hardware, plus parts that were failing but tested ok, made for an extremely difficult path to troubleshooting and getting it running right. And that's before you get to the quirk's of getting it to boot and installing an OS and drivers and software. I love it now that it works, but it easily took 100x the time (yes 100x) and probably 2-2.5x the total expected cost getting it to that point. Not counting the additional AC unit I installed to keep it (somewhat) quieter. I usually expect one or two aspects of my projects to have unexpected roadblocks, but for this it was issues with what seemed like every single step. It's eventual replacement will be factory new.

sokoloff 5y ago
My experience was buttery smooth. It was plug it in, replace the drives with new SATA spinning for bulk and SSD for fast storage, install proxmox, and I had my first apps on it within a few hours of starting. This was first on a Dell RX720 and later on an HP DL380 Gen9. I got complete servers from decommissioning projects and they just worked. In 5 years, I’ve replaced a SAS controller battery backup unit on one of them. The plural of anecdote isn’t data and all that, but if you buy complete gear that just aged out, it worked on the last day they used it and is very likely to work on the first day you use it. The fan noise and power draw is annoying. Running a house full of VMs (I’ve got about 20 containers plus VMs), it pulls about 290 Watts per the meter. That doesn’t feel outrageous on the power side and is certainly convenient. (It’s about $500/yr in power.)

sokoloff 5y ago

My experience was buttery smooth. It was plug it in, replace the drives with new SATA spinning for bulk and SSD for fast storage, install proxmox, and I had my first apps on it within a few hours of starting. This was first on a Dell RX720 and later on an HP DL380 Gen9. I got complete servers from decommissioning projects and they just worked. In 5 years, I’ve replaced a SAS controller battery backup unit on one of them. The plural of anecdote isn’t data and all that, but if you buy complete gear that just aged out, it worked on the last day they used it and is very likely to work on the first day you use it. The fan noise and power draw is annoying. Running a house full of VMs (I’ve got about 20 containers plus VMs), it pulls about 290 Watts per the meter. That doesn’t feel outrageous on the power side and is certainly convenient. (It’s about $500/yr in power.)