64-bit db server?

Yeah. What concerns is how well the hardware we buy now will fit into our ultimate, highly scalable infrastructure.

In other words, if we have 200,000 users someday soon and need 64-bit multiple CPU machines to a future where we might grow 60K to 80K in a month, will we be able to use what we have spent previously, or will old hardware be a burden to us, with the previous investment actually making it harder to justify biting the bullet and buy the heavy equipment.

I wish I had a better way of judging our potential size and growth rate. Keep in mind that I'm working off of conservative figures, and assuming a decrease in the growth rate. The only problem is that our growth rate has been increasing lately...