For optimizing performance, there are a couple of other tweaks.
=> Go to SSD drive[s] for the AC database. We recommend RAID1, but there is a raw performance argument for single drives or even a PCI-E RAM disk for higher through-put.
==> Upgrade your RAID card to one with more throughput, caching and battery backup
==> Go to multiple NICs in cluster or segregate network traffic
These are all a bit more advanced, but it sounds like you might be up to it.
What would you think the order of most benefit would be? It still amazes me how resource intensive AC seems to be.
