Multi-user server system and method

The multi-user server technology allows multiple host stations to configure, load, and execute multiple jobs in a reconfigurable hardware unit for emulation purposes, simulation acceleration purposes, and a combination of emulation and simulation in a concurrent manner. The reconfigurable hardware unit includes a plurality of hardware resources (e.g., FPGA chips on slot module boards) for modeling at least a portion of one or more user design. The server includes a bus arbiter for deciding which one of the host stations will be coupled to the hardware resources via the bus multiplexer. The plurality of hardware resources includes slot modules, which includes one or more boards of FPGA chips. An arbitration decision is made to assign a particular slot(s) to a particular host. A host and its respective assigned slot(s) can communicate with each other while other hosts and their respective assigned slot(s) communicate with each other.