MySQL on Separate vs Same Server

2025-04-07

Just wondering about the performance difference between one powerful server vs two mid-grade servers. Experts and experienced users please comment and advise. Down to examples.

Running of a 10k user forum, 500 or more always on. Comparision of two different operation models.

1x Dual PIII 1GHz + 2GB RAM (Web & MySQL)
2x Single PIII 1Ghz + 1GB RAM (Web, MySQL)

All using SCSI 10K drives, same OS (which OS is irrelvant), MySQL compiled/configured with optimum settings (On the basis that both MySQL servers are compiled/configured the same way).

Factors To Consider

Disk access (1 vs 2 servers)
Network latency (8-11% slower based on MySQL documentation)

How would the performance compare in such a situation? Appreciate all comments on this discussion.