I was wondering how that server could have been used in 2013...
Servers can be durable indeed, but client machines are replaced more often, and I don't think that in 2013 it was possible to connect a brand new system to NetWare 3.12.

But then I read this:
"When I began work here in 2004, this system was completely orphaned."

So yeah, it aligns pretty well with my experiences - NetWare was commonly phased out in the 00s.

Though I can imagine a LAN of Windows XP machines still running in 2013, and it was perfectly possible to use the XP with NetWare - just not common.

I have no idea, but it reminds me of the myth of a forgotten server doing its work somewhere in a hidden corner of every company.
A task that was once important and without which the company would cease to function.

In real life, this used to be local time servers, for example.
A server equipped with a radio-controlled clock which serves the intranet with current time.
There are other stories, too.

I recall a story about a lost server...

Nobody knew its physical location, and nobody cared - everything was done remotely.
Some day, however, it became necessary to visit it in person - but the server was nowhere to be found...

After a long search and investigation, it turned out the server room got bricked up during some renovation 🤣

Nowadays, it's common to find cryptocurrency mining equipment hidden in strange corners of various institutions 🤣

Grzyb wrote on 2025-02-17, 23:26:

I recall a story about a lost server... […]
Show full quote

I recall a story about a lost server...

Nobody knew its physical location, and nobody cared - everything was done remotely.
Some day, however, it became necessary to visit it in person - but the server was nowhere to be found...

After a long search and investigation, it turned out the server room got bricked up during some renovation 🤣

This one?
https://www.theregister.com/2001/04/12/missin … scovered_after/

chinny22 wrote on 2025-02-18, 00:02:

This one?
https://www.theregister.com/2001/04/12/missin … scovered_after/

I don't remember details, but very likely it was this!

Thanks, guys! ^^ Somehow this makes me think of the IT equivalent to ghost stories!
The Edgar Alan Poe reference completed it, I think.

Back in 1990’s the IBM hard drives were the one used in Mission critical production servers.

now i want to hear more about abandoned but still functioning computers...

There was the server I found that was still powered up but completely off the network so not actually doing anything.
Proliant 1600 Barn (well shop office) Find

This isn't an uncommon occurrence either in remote/branch offices where often the server will get decommissioned remotely and someone from I.T. will get someone on site to unplug from the network with the plan that next time someone attends site to finish the job off. Problem is once it's off the network fair chance it's eithr forgotten and after the next power cut the server fires back up without anyone noticing.

If anyone can point me to extremely early versions of NetWare, like Netware-86 or Netware-68(k), pm me.