what would you do with an old dell server?

I'd use a Kill-a-Watt or similar to check how much power it uses, before deciding whether it's worth installing anything on it. Also check how much noise it makes, unless you have a separate room for servers. Enterprise servers aren't always a good fit for home use.

>.>

inb4 put Linux on it...

Proxmox it and then install a bunch of Linux containers on it!

what would you do with an old dell server?

I thought this post was going to be a sea shanty.

Sell to pay my electricity bill

Windows 95, directly on the Internet just for the hell of it

Depends on the specs. If it's really old the power consumption will cost more than you'd spend on newer hardware. I have such a box sitting at home doing nothing. It's cheaper to rent a hetzner dedi.

Drop it on a cop from a high window.

I agree with the advice of finding out how much electricity it will consume. When you step to this level, power consumption becomes a reality. Just looking at specs and doing some swag, it's probably going to cost anywhere from $15 to $25 +/- USD monthly. A $500 entry fee seems a little rich for my blood. Second, you're going to have to put that thing in a closet. Those fans are loud. Other than that, rock on bro! Git sum!

So, uh, exactly how "old" is that server? Because, if I understood it correctly, it should be based on 8th gen Intel, which makes this a solid piece of equipment in any homelab (provided you can deal with the noise and power draw).

Strip is down and clean it thoroughly

Once you have done that do an inventory of what it is. If it is more than 8 years old recycle it

Run some jellyfin on it just for your house

@TwoBeeSan Recycle it unless you have excess free electricity.

I had a r610 running last year. two 1kw PSUs running 24/7. when I migrated to new hardware my monthly electrical bill dropped around $75 a month.

it sits in my rack as a shitty reminder that commercial hardware is cheap for a reason.

Looks like a rebranded R340? Nice! That's a good deal.

I'd keep it and run proxmox, but that's because that's why I like to run for my workloads. Depends on your needs. If your electricity is free, you could mine crypto or whatever.

I have one around that same class that is running Security Onion, because why not record and analyze all the things.

I've got a DELL server that I used as home server, but it was too loud. But it worked well, even at an advanced age. I moved the disks to a normal desktop machine (not DELL) that is much, much quieter.