DB on webserver?

I’ve got a website that currently needs a total overhaul. I inherited it from the last web admin that worked here and we’re planning to rewrite it from scratch. We currently receive between 1200 and 2000 hits daily to our website. Currently we are running ColdFusion and MSSQL&MYSQL on one box. For security reasons I’m concerned about this type of setup. I’m fairly new to this type of thing but ideally wouldn’t you want to host the databases on a separate box hiding in the back somewhere?

Are there any pitfalls to hosting the DB server separately?

Thanks,
DSFX

There are two big ones. First, it's more expensive. Second, there's more latency between your web application and the DB server.

If your site only receives 2k hits per day I'd find it really hard to justify the cost of adding and maintaining a second server.

Unless you're doing something that requires maximum security, like financial or medical records, the extra security doesn't really justify the cost.

Thanks for your reply. I was on the fence but this helps.