Second this. For reference: 100K+ users on a very dynamic site served from a single box with some partial caching. The machine is a fair sized one (lots of ram, fast disks, 32 cores) but I see no advantages from using multiple machines where a single one will do.
I've seen quite a few places with over-complex setups due to gross inefficiencies in the software they deployed.
I've seen quite a few places with over-complex setups due to gross inefficiencies in the software they deployed.
KISS is good advice, even in 2014.