Anyone handling high-load servers can tell you that density is where it's at. If you're in a datacenter, each rack costs money every month, and there's no reason to spend $500, $1000, or more every month on additional racks if you don't need to.
Enter the SuperMicro SYS-6015TW series. These have been out for a year or so, and I just got around to trying one. Each chassis houses TWO separate computers - yes, two entire motherboards and a power supply inside of a single 1U chassis.
"But wait, there's more!" Each of those motherboards houses two cpu sockets. That's a total of four CPU sockets and 16 memory slots in a single 1U chassis. That is certainly not unprecedented - there are certainly 1U quad-CPU servers out there - but this gives you the flexibility to install two isolated systems in a single slot in your rack.
I filled mine with four L5410 CPUs (four cores, 2.33 GHz, and 12 megs of L3 cache - in only 50 watts), and a terrifying number of 4GB memory sticks from Crucial. Between the two systems, there are 16 CPU cores, and over 40 gigabytes of memory. That is some amazing computational power.
Why not use a single machine with virtualization? Speed. Companies like to tell you that most servers are mostly idle, that all of those extra CPU cycles are going to waste. I don't know which companies they looked at, but most business I know are running machines full-tilt, and the overhead of virtualization would require more hardware to handle the load.
As always from SuperMicro, this is one serious machine - the build quality and design are absolutely top-notch. I have racks full of SuperMicro machines, and could not be more pleased with them.
There are only two downsides I have yet found. First, in order to save PCB space, there are no PS2 connections for keyboard or mouse. Since most rack users are connecting a KVM, that is certainly inconvenient. There are adapters to allow you to plug PS2 keyboard/mouse into USB sockets, but I have yet to try any with this system.
Second, with one power supply shared between the systems, if you are using remote power control to cut power when needed, you would take down BOTH machines. That can be avoided using SuperMicro's rather decently-priced add-in IPMI card.
This is obviously a niche product, and obviously appeals only to certain applications. But if you're in a position to need something like this, it is a true life saver.
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