Literally free?

Is it an HPE Proliant? If so go to their site, look for the “Quickspecs” for your precise model. That document will list every available part, and its product number. Search eBay for the bits you need / want. No ambiguity.

Free servers tend to cost a LOT of money.

/r/homelabsales. Put in a wanted request.

Shameless plug: I have a pile of 6TB Toshiba 7200rpm SAS drives that came from a Dell server and are in good working order. Looking to send them to a loving home. They should work well in your server. PM me if interested.

This image shows an open HP ProLiant server situated on a wooden desk, revealing its internal components. Here’s a detailed analysis:
Server Model: The monitor in the background displays “HP ProLiant,” which is the model of the server. This line of servers is commonly used in business environments for various applications due to their reliability and scalability.
Internal Components:
Processor and Heatsink: In the center, there’s a large, metal heatsink which is part of the server’s cooling system. It’s mounted on the motherboard to dissipate heat from the processor underneath.
Memory Slots: To the left of the heatsink, there are several DIMM slots for memory. Some slots are filled with RAM modules (which appear to have white locking clips), while others are empty, indicating that the server is not at its full memory capacity.
Drive Bays: At the front, there are several hard drive bays with hot-swap capability, allowing drives to be replaced without powering down the server. Some bays are occupied by drives with red handles.
Expansion Slots: To the right, you can see several PCIe expansion slots, which can be used for additional hardware such as network cards or storage controllers.
Power Supply Unit (PSU): Partially visible at the back, the PSU provides power to the server. Its placement indicates a redundant design, common in servers for reliability.
Peripheral Devices:
Keyboard: In the foreground, there is an HP keyboard, suggesting that someone is interacting with the server directly rather than remotely.
Monitor: The monitor is showing a text-based interface, likely the BIOS, a hardware configuration menu, or an early-stage system boot process.
Maintenance Activity:
CPU Memory Board Carriers: In the foreground, leaning against the desk, there appear to be two CPU memory board carriers. These are typically used to hold additional processors and RAM for server upgrades.
USB Cable: On the front of the server, there is a USB cable plugged in, which could be connected to storage media or another peripheral device necessary for the maintenance or upgrade process.
Environment:
The server is situated in an office setting, indicated by the cubicle partitions and office chairs in the background.
This setup suggests that the server is undergoing maintenance, upgrade, or repair. The open chassis and visible internal components indicate that work is being done on the hardware, which may include installing additional memory, processors, or configuring the system for deployment. The presence of the keyboard and the displayed information on the monitor also suggests active interaction with the server’s configuration settings.

Pictures that you can hear

Look at the options of what is compatible. You can look online by the parts numbers listed in this document.

HPE Proliant DL380 Gen 8 data sheet: https://www.hpe.com/psnow/doc/c04123238

Why bother

I got some drives cheap if you want it

Google the model number, buy stuff.

Ebayyy

eBay

Any tips for sourcing the parts?

SaveMyServer, TechMikeNY, ServerMonkey - all of those will have the parts you need.

If your looking for a decent machine try the hp elitedesk g3 800 sff desktop i5 7500 quiet as hell upto 64gram twin video out 10 usb usually come with 500gb ssd and 500gb hdd all this for about 70quid I just got two and I couldn’t be happier 😊