nanovapr was pretty dead on. ECF uses a cluster of servers and does a pretty good job since we upgraded the database server.
The hardware in place is sufficient for the task - we've just got a gremlin loose in the datacenter and sometimes they are harder to resolve than you would think. John is working on the issue and with any luck he'll have a more permanent solution to our most recent gremlin before long.
Do prefer a four or eight pound gremlin hammer?