By introducing the Open Compute Project Server design.
Inside the Open Compute Project Server
Simply speaking it involves stripping away all things that are not needed by a application/storage-oriented server. Obviously network connectors and basic graphics are integrated on the motherboard, so there’s no need for slots for expansion boards. And as the servers are managed remotely, you don’t need graphics at all.
Also, low power consumption and heat emission have been priorities for the design, for cost and footprint reasons.
I applaud this effort. Even though the PC design has evolved in leaps and bounds since its inception, the functional blocks have been the same, focusing on desktop use.
It’s interesting how a Web application provider can get this power to control the “iron”, but so do e.g. Microsoft and Oracle.