Maybe making a fool out of myself if Heidelberg is already using a two server setup: It is not a good idea to have AOLserver and the database run on the same machine for performance reasons. I can't give you a technical *explanation* just an experience *observation*.
My economics of the situation: Getting a linux box running AOLserver should be around 1000 EUR plus 5 hours of work for setup and give you immediate gratification. Trying to tune OpenACS is most likely more costly *and* time consuming. The additional costs for system administration should be minimal but shouldn't be neglected, I agree.
