> When you cut out all that fat, you can fit a lot more muscle in its place. Then you can arrange everything on a rack scale for airflow, power, redundancy, etc.
This is not really true. Data center servers are highly optimized for density already. Like tens of thousands of hours on airflow CFD, tweaking cases and fans and internal layout, heatsink design, etc. chasing the 0.1%s. There are many significant tradeoffs to be made, but there is not a large factor improvement just sitting on the shelf due to a bunch of unused legacy leftovers.
This is not really true. Data center servers are highly optimized for density already. Like tens of thousands of hours on airflow CFD, tweaking cases and fans and internal layout, heatsink design, etc. chasing the 0.1%s. There are many significant tradeoffs to be made, but there is not a large factor improvement just sitting on the shelf due to a bunch of unused legacy leftovers.