So I've just got hold of one these from a friend who was just going to throw it away and thought it's going to be better than my i5 based rig I'm using at the minute.
The spec is:
HP Z800
Processor #1: 2.66 GHz Hex-Core Xeon (X5650) - 6.40 GT/12MB
Processor #2: 2.66 GHz Hex-Core Xeon (X5650) - 6.40 GT/12MB
Memory: 24GB - (6 x 4GB) - DDR3 ECC Reg - 1333Mhz
Hard Drive #1: ATA Crucial_CT250mX2 SCSI Solid State Disk - Actual size 231GB
Hard Drive #2: ATA CT1000MX500SSD1 SCSI Solid State Disk - Actual size 931GB
Hard Drive #3: No Hard Drive #3
Hard Drive #4: No Hard Drive #4
Graphics Card: nVidia Quadro 4000 - 2GB GDDR5 - 1 x Dual DVI & 2 x DisplayPort
Optical Drive: 5.25" DVD-RW
Operating System: Windows 10 Pro
WiFi Adapter: TP-Link 300Mbps Wireless N Adapter
I'm not really worried about the SSD, optical drive or the WiFi card so they will likely go the journey.
My thoughts were yes it's got a few years on it but it's a lot more expandable than what I'm currently using from 2015 which has an i5 CPU and 16GB of ram.
Since it has two NICs on it I was thinking of running Frigate as a docker which I'm guessing I could direct cuts ait to use one NIC and everything else to the other, does that sound a reasonable plan?
So, is this a worthy replacement for my old server or should I send it to server heaven?
Depends upon what you're using it for as always. X5650 has a rating of 5716 and has a TDP of 95W.
You have two, so you pull up-to 190W @ 100% CPU.
Depending on your workload these types of CPUs may be more inefficient than the i5. because they have less single thread performance. You didn't specify which i5 gen your CPU was.
You can get some cheap ddr3 eec ram off eBay to double it if you want but 24 is a nice amount for apps and zfs cache (if you go that way)
Double nic is good for exactly your type of setup. Iot devices on a separate vlan. (Your video cameras)
If it has more space HDD space or is better specs than your i5 and you don't mind taking the extra power hit & possibly heat/sound. Then it will be a great nas