"A windows license for a server machine with > 32 GB of RAM cost an arm and a leg, so server farms got very expensive very quickly. (Oddly, the price of the license depended on the RAM of the machine involved.)"
FWIW, you now have these options in Windows Azure:
- Memory Intensive VM (4 x 1.6GHz CPU, 28GB RAM, 1,000GB Storage) : $0.90/hr
- Memory Intensive VM (8 x 1.6GHz CPU, 56GB RAM, 2,040GB Storage : $1.80/hr
http://www.windowsazure.com/en-us/pricing/calculator/?scenar...