Server retired after 18 years of operation

The server that was switched off recently had been running twenty-four hours a day and seven days a week since1997 without any special maintenance done to it. The server was retired after it had been in service for 18 years and ten months.
Ross, the person responsible for the operation of the machine, said that the server with 200 MHz Pentium, 32MB RAM, and 4GB SCSI-2 drive had to be switched off because the latter, a Seagate drive started to throw error messages more and more frequently.
The machine was mainly used to collect data, keep copies of invoices, and perform various tasks necessary for the flow of the business. The server lived so long because it was fit for the purpose. Only a very small part of the processes running behind the heavy firewalls were visible to anyone, and mostly visible as needed by customers. In addition, it survived so long because it performed very specific tasks, and the programmes became so tightly bound to the 2.1.1 FreeBSD operating system of the machine that after a time, it was simply more expedient to let the server work as it was than to think of solutions of how to move services to a more modern machine. The principle of “why repair it while its running services perfectly” was followed until just now.
The machine was not the product of any of the big server manufacturers, but a box that was assembled from parts by somebody unknown. Experts are of the opinion that the server’s longevity was thanks to a nice work environment: it was not overstressed with tasks, and was placed in a quite server room with good climate, and temperature never over 18 degrees Celsius. This is where the server hummed away peacefully.