Strange setup for AI with the specs/chips usualy in the nucs/minis.
But unless you plan to strip the pcbs out of the case etc type stuff they will not be happy running very dense.
If you got a healthy budget id expect you to look towards the stuff made for rack and the usecase.
impressed how much you got out of just wanting a cheap one tbh
Tho i would expect 10+ year old stuff to be dirt cheap, i would not expect it to be stuff people are actualy buying anymore.
You would need to have the nvme not sas/sata SFF cage for this to work.
Otherwise what you are looking for is an adapter going to pci-e slot.
It stops being homelab when the focus goes from labbing to production, when it becomes a homeprod enviroment instead.
50k could be good or it could be bad.
You really need some specs to go with it to say what side it lands on.
If its a freelance tech type 1man company i would 100% expect you to be taken advantage of.
For being what it is id say its okay, its not an amazing deal but not expensive either.
Was offered some trays of 1tb 3.5" new in bag recently and said noty.
Beyond just the pure baycount needed to scale some storage in those sizes, the consumption becomes equaly horrible.
You can go with a 1-3$/mo shared hosting and it will be higher quality than a pi from home tho.
With that amount of drives and extra NICs it sounds fairly expected.
Possible? yes
Recommended? not in any way
And multiple has been posted, so problem solved then i guess.