Possible Server Equipment Acquisition

[NasKar]

I may have the option to acquire some server equipment that I could use as a test freenas server or backup pfsense. Any other ideas would be great to hear. My wife will kill me if I take it all so I wanted to get some advice if possible.
Equipment: all 2.5" HDD
3x IBM System x3650 M3 I think with mixtures of 8 SAS drives 300 and 600 GBs
Stratus with 24 2.5" bays underneath it
2x HP ProLiant DL180 G6 with mixture of 500GB and 2TB drives
2x HP ProLiant DL360 G7 with mixture of 300GB and 600GB drives
2x HP ProCurve 2910aI-24G switch J9145A
Multiple APC UPS see attached pics
I don't know any other details at this point. I think they are running a version of Windows Server

1) What is the easiest way to determine the CPU/memory installed in the servers so I can pick the most powerful?
2) Can all the 2.5" drives from the different servers we used in different machines so I could have 6-8 of the same size? Can SAS and SATA be mixed?
3) Is there an easy way to wipe all the HDD so they would be comfortable with me taking them.
4) Which UPS is worth keeping? Should I keep one for each server?

 

[Hirndille]

Hi NasKar

1) Are there any "Service-Tags" like Dell have, on these machines ? With those you should be able to look up the initial build.
If not, check the management interface, it should be visible there somewhere.
Finally, if they are already out of service, open them up, remove the heatsink(s) and the thermal paste...

2) Not absolutely sure, but as SAS drives have 2 ports, and SATA have only one i would say no for mixing. At least not in the same enclosure or sub-enclosure. If your machine has split backplanes, you could use one for SAS and the other for SATA.

3) FreeNAS wipes all disks as you form the "pool" of data. But thats not a secure way of wiping, so if they want a documented wipe you may have to use a certified company to do that for you.

4) No idea. All I know is, batteries wear over time and if misused. Misusing should be prevented by those UPS'es naturally.
I would try to calculate the power needed for the equipment you want to keep and then see if there is a strong enough UPS to cover them all. Why ? Each UPS will use some extra power on top of the power the system attached to it takes, so if you can cover with one, you only waste lets say 50 watts, if you need 4, its already 200 watts wasted. On the other hand, if this one UPS fails, all systems go down. So its either cheaper or (maybe) safer...