by Kaffis
For me, the matter comes down to an ease of use issue.Since the rules don't state clearly either way, I'll opt for the ruling that DOESN'T become the only rule that relies on prior board states that are no longer trackable by the current one.
Archives can exist without cards because Archives simply always exist. One doesn't have to know whether or not Archives existed before -- they're just there.
If completely empty Remote Servers could exist, you'd have to track things on the board with no representation, and it will only create arguments. "You didn't say you *weren't* creating a new server after I trashed your PAD Campaign -- I want to Bank Job the empty one you left when you created a new server for the stuff that's there now!"
No, empty servers get reclaimed, that way there's no room for "forgetting" or having to "keep track" of how many remote servers there are -- if there are cards down to maintain one's existence, there's a server. When you play new cards, it's quite obvious where they are if we don't have phantom servers roaming about.