Experiment with free versions of enterprise software? For example Nutanix [0] or setup a Openshift/OKD cluster [1]. Install a Hypervisor [2][3] and start rolling out virtual machines for smaller projects, use a devops approach automating everything with Ansible for example (Infrastructure as Code)... And many more possibilities, or donate the hardware to me so I can use it to do all this ;)
[0] https://www.nutanix.com/products/community-edition/ [1] https://www.okd.io/ [2] https://my.vmware.com/web/vmware/evalcenter?p=free-esxi6 [3] https://www.ovirt.org/