Here are my current server specs: Dual Xeon 2.8Ghz 2GB RAM 240GB Storage 2000GB Bandwidth The server is running RedHat Enterprise 3, PHP4/5, and MySQL 4.0.27 I'm paying around $225/mo for that. Now, the question...would I be better off upgrading RAM to say, 4GB (would cost a one time fee of $400) as well as upgrading RedHat and MySQL? Or would I be better off getting this: Dual Xeon 3.2Ghz 2GB RAM 500GB Storage 2500GB Bandwidth w/ RedHat Enterprise 4 and the latest version of MySQL That'd be around $360/mo. So ultimately would the increase in processor speed be worth it? Would it be a huge hassle to upgrade from RedHat 3 to 4 on my current server (same with MySQL)? I've got about 20 sites of mine on the server. All of which use PHP/MySQL fairly heavily.
I would vote RAM upgrade with the information I see so far. Any MySQL usage will benefit from the additional RAM. I am guessing any bottlenecks would be in accessing the hard drive (MySQL), so increased CPU isn't going make much of a difference. What say anyone else?
I vote for RAM also, databases really like RAM and fast disk. An upgrade is software and/or tuning the software would be helpful also.
I prefer a new server. In my experience, companies fail one way or another when you upgrade your original package, from small details to huge misconfigurations or similar issues.