Dedicated server pricing needed

[fusionx]

Hey all - thanks for the advice and the replies - mucho appreciated.

The numbers I gave were just examples of how the traffic is sporadic - the painful growth phase. I've done 194 gigs since Sunday night. This has slowed a bit since, but that's the general issue.

The main site I run is completely DB dependant, and the SQL in the software isn't optimized at all - it's pretty sloppy. I'm going through and fixing things when I can. It's getting better and better.

I also know I need to install MMCache or similar. That would reduce the load on the DB by a good margin.

Tuning apache, et al, will also help - I'm sure.

But, I'm adding new sites that will grab more CPU/Disk/Ram, etc, and I'll need to upgrade within a month anyway. I have 1000gig transfer now, and will definately need more soon.

Rather than tweak this one out, and make it last another month or two, I'll get a server with more capacity, a plan with more transfer, and will optimize the hell out of that one. It should take care of my needs for quite a while.

That being said, my current provider offered me a sweet deal - how does this look to you:

Intel Pentium IV 2.8GHz
1GB DDRAM Memory
(2) 80GB SATA Hard Drive
1500 GB Data Transfer, 10mbit cap
Cpanel/WHM/Fantastico

$189.00 per month, no setup, hosted at Sagonet in Tampa.

Here's a question for you all. When looking at overall server load through Cpanel, what do you consider a "stressfull" load? I've watched mine hold 15 - 20 for hours with not much degradation in delivery. Right now apache is showing between 50 - 70 servers active and the load is at about 1.8 - 2.2. It only seems to degrade when servers get up to about 100 - then the front end starts slowing down.

I know that's not granular - but it is a good indication of overall server stress?

Thanks!