I know how the database server works and I know it's best to keep the servers in the same datacenter/cluster. What I was wondering though is would I see a performance gain buy using a database server from one host and using a file server from another host. I have a large forum/rating/myspace type site and it's been bogged down lately. I know I could just get a beefy server and everything would be fine, but I have a few dedicated servers that are free of charge.
this should not be done if they're in two seperate physical locations. if they're on a LAN, it's fine. doing it over the net is a bad idea in 99% of cases when you're concerned about performance. everytime a request is made to the db it needs to send the request across the net to the machine, the machine needs to send it back, then the original machine needs to output it to the client. lots of overhead.
If it's in same DC then it's perfect but i recommend you purchasing some Dual Xeon or Quad Xeon for best perfomance Saad
depending on which core we're talking about, the opterons usually outperform the xeons in DB performance.