Additional Alacrity

If you are running an older version of MySQL server, upgrading to MySQL 4 is strongly recommended; it includes many performance improvements including query caching. MySQL server tuning and optimization information is best found on their main site: http://www.mysql.com/doc/en/Optimising_the_Server.html. If you have the option, running MySQL on a server separate from your web server can also be a great help.

As with any server, you should remove any services or applications unnecessary for regular operation. Defragment your hard drive(s); a fast CPU with plenty of memory is easily slowed by a drive bottleneck. If you are using Linux, you might want to use hpdarm to tune up your drives. It uses existing but sometimes unused drive features to increase throughput, by as much as 10 times. hpdarm is mainly an Integrated Development Environment (IDE) drive improvement, but some settings help small computer system interface (SCSI) as well.