In this blog we provide 8 tips on recycling and buying up old servers and other “old storage”.
Lately, we at IT Recycling have seen an increase in the number of servers that we dispose of for server recycling yet workable servers that we buy up.
In this blog, a few tips for when you have worn out servers.
1. Recycling or buying up servers?
What’s it going to be?
Server recycling or buying up servers?
If they still have value you can make small money from them, otherwise server recycling.
DELL servers
DELL servers: anything with 4 digits in the model number certainly has no value.
( For example Poweredge 1650 tie 4 digits ).
Models with three digits may have value, provided they are younger than a 5 years.
HP servers
HP servers: An HP server is usually called something like HP Proliant DL 380 G8.
Now it’s all about what’s after the G.
For most models money 8 or better is still probably buyable.
And 7 and below is really old iron.
IBM servers
IBM – and others: 5 years or younger may be buyable.
In doubt, or really don’t know?
Just call me at: 06-53468704.
Furthermore, you better not count yourself too rich with depreciated servers, because servers really do depreciate tremendously.
If you have a quantity of servers, make a very brief list of what it is.
Actually all the buyer really needs is approximately the number – and make/model.
Where with HP especially the number after the G is important.
If you have more information you can sometimes get a slightly higher price.
If it is a very low number of servers, let’s say less like 10 units or so, then the buyers are not likely to be inclined to make an offer.
2. Get a good quote
Do not do business until you have really agreed on everything properly.
Never settle for verbal agreements and prices and never agree to cash.
If they want to pay cash it is not really a sign of reliability.
A clear quote, without fine print, and clear prices that you can demand, right?
3. Data destruction of servers.
It doesn’t matter if your servers are going for recycling or if they are still worth something.
What happens to the data still on the hard drives?
The better system administrator can, of course, perform a data wipe himself.
But that can only be done if the servers are still running and in the rack.
In the vast majority of cases, the new owner will have to do that.
It doesn’t matter if that is a computer recycling or a buyer for your servers.
The best way to destroy data on servers is with a mobile hard disk shredder.
IT-Recycling has the largest and fastest in the Netherlands, but there are more.
Destroying server hard disks on site is definitely the surest but also much more expensive!
And it makes servers that might have been sellable before unusable because the hard drives are gone.
Servers without hard drives are hard to sell.
All companies that offer computer recycling and server buyouts will also offer data destruction.
But if you don’t get to see for yourself how the data is destroyed then you have to trust the business.
And that trust is what the next point is about.
4. Choose a Weeelabex certified company
You can have your server picked up for recycling by all sorts of illustrious types in beat-up vans who come and take care of it.
Great prices are promised in advance for old servers, and the data destruction will be just fine.
And then the problems follow.
Don’t take any risks.
There are good companies and they meet the WEEELABEX standard.
This standard is required by law for companies that deal with old computer hardware and destroy digital data.
Who has weeelabex is public and can be found the weeelabex website.
Companies that comply with weeelabex are independently audited once a year and really meet very high requirements in terms of environment, privacy, organization and transparency.
5. Have everything taken away with server recycling or server buyout
If you are having old servers picked up for recycling and data destruction make sure that the computer recycler takes everything with him.
The better computer recycler will not charge you for it.
Never work with a company that just wants to get the best bits and leaves you with the worst.
Make sure you pick everything up right away.
6. Don’t go lugging yourself around
If you don’t deal with amateurs, but with the professional computer recycler, you can assume that they will come with carts and transport stuff and charge everything.
The days of picking up computer waste with a rusty van and a pushcart are well and truly over.
Leave the lugging and hauling of lead-heavy servers to the professional.
And especially ask well in advance how they are going to do it.
If it was a little cheaper but you are busy all day and after picking it up there are scratches on doors and stairs then you have made no progress.
7. Try to get rid of your 19inch racks, preferably for free
If you want a new 19inch rack then it will cost quite a bit of money.
But if you have an old 19inch rack now then you really can’t sell it.
In fact, you should actually try to get your computer recycling company to take your old racks for, try to include this in your deal!
The actual value of an overcompleted 19inch rack is always less than ZERO.
That is, collection and disposal is much more expensive than what metal it contains.
So getting your old servers picked up and leaving the racks in place is not practical!
8. UPS systems clean up along with server recycling
What goes for racks also goes for the story UPS system.
There is absolutely no one really who is going to pay even one euro for a depreciated UPS.
Now you can say that it contains lead-acid batteries and that lead is worth money.
But the computer recycling company certainly won’t want to buy your UPS.
Also UPS systems usually have a NEGATIVE value!
So try to get a deal that includes the disposal of UPS!
And ups systems can be very heavy.
So rather have a good company do it.
Do you have your own ideas or tips on disposal and recycling of old servers?
Let us know in a comment!