In 2000 I installed Linux (and BSD) on various spare Compaq DS10 and DS20 Alpha machines to test it against the stock Tru64 because of a bug that caused local network packet losses when using unconnected protocols like UDP even at very low speeds, and it was 100% reproducible. We later discovered that that packet loss was due to an interrupt fired by the video card driver that would literally kill everything for a fraction of second. That's why we use protocols like TCP, but again, that shouldn't have happened to that extent. Application was ATC so video cards were quite high end.
I used the Mgen and Drec tools by the US Navy that I modified to run them in a many-to-many configuration, so that I could for example let them run synchronized tasks over a weekend and compare the logs on the following Monday.
Fun fact: Installing Linux on spare machines (we had plenty, one was used as doorstop, no kidding) was our idea. Our PM at the time, which was very likely the most ignorant one I ever had to interact with, didn't veto the initiative, still criticized it anyway because "Linux is amateurish, you should use something more professional". Long story short, after most part of the group, including myself, left because of that idiot, he was finally fired, and according to a colleague who kept working there, after a couple years they started moving everything to Linux.
Fun fact: Installing Linux on spare machines (we had plenty, one was used as doorstop, no kidding) was our idea. Our PM at the time, which was very likely the most ignorant one I ever had to interact with, didn't veto the initiative, still criticized it anyway because "Linux is amateurish, you should use something more professional". Long story short, after most part of the group, including myself, left because of that idiot, he was finally fired, and according to a colleague who kept working there, after a couple years they started moving everything to Linux.