I have a retired IBM X3550 M5 system on hand, CPUs are 2x E5-2650v3. I am trying to find something useful for it that isn’t sitting in a corner collecting dust.
I have thought of using it as an offsite backup machine but that is no good since the config I have only takes 2.5 inch drives. Other than that I don’t really know what to do with it.
This isn’t suitable as a home server since it is a 1U server. As for why… 40mm fans go brrrrr
Aren’t you worried about power consumption?
For this to make sense, you need to have something rather specific to do on the machine. If you do not find the need, it may be a sign that it is a pity to waste electricity. 
Does the server have access to a reasonable internet connection? Maybe some shell/vps for L1 community.
Maybe make yourself a small test server, some dns, small hosting, file server … 2.5 will also do well for backups, only it will be more modest.
Could donate it to a future Wozniak
Just donate it to a public school that has a computer science/IT program
Of the uses that come to mind for me, all of them this server is unsuitable
it is too noisy for something like a home server or NAS
its clock speed is way too low for a minecraft server
There is somewhere I can put it that has 200/50 mbps internet but without a public IP address
For test servers I don’t really have a need for one that is permanent
Public Schools around my area either has lots of government funding or don’t have computer science programs, like they are literally building supercomputers as far as I know
Try free geek if you still want to donate it.
Im sure someone will buy it eventually if you post it on ebay/craigslist…
Hmm, hard to come up with anything meaningful.
Usually you have a need but you don’t have the equipment so it’s easier.
In a situation where the machine draws a lot of electricity, is noisy, you don’t need it at home, the processing capacity is so-so, and access to the network is difficult … not too many options are left for it to make any sense.
200/50 is not a tragedy yet, 50 is not a luxury, but for some simple things, tests for a few people from L1 would be enough.
However, the lack of a public IP is a problem, I’m guessing that there is also no possibility to forward a single port? Yes, you could set some proxy/tunnel to which the server will connect, but these are other resources that you need to have or spend $ so.
So we are probably in a stalemate where there is a server but there is no work for him. 
I also have a lot of old machines from the P4 and P3 times, but their only job now is to collect dust.
RIP your electric bill
That thing is physically in Taiwan so no Freegeek wouldn’t be a good idea if I have to ship that thing half way around the world
Yeah probably should let it sit longer until I have something for it to do
With Tailscale and/or Tor, you don’t chave to care about the public IP, it can still be useful to you without.
You could use it for all the same things you’d normally do with a home server, just a bit slower.
grab an ATX chinese x79 mainboard and stick a cpu and ram on it from the old server and then you can do whatever. they make really good TrueNAS boxes. or even a home ProxMox box as long as you are aware of the CPUs capabilities.
V3 is X99, and given that I don’t have even a 2.5G network my current Ryzen 3100 is very overkill for a NAS.
You decided yet what to do?
Maybe sell it on r/homelabsales. Some people like to learn with real server hardware.
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