Before we dive into answering this question we have to acknowledge that technology is meant to empower our work force to achieve more with ease and not necessarily an everyday struggle because we are challenged to manage underpowered resources. That said...

One of the common poor design decisions I have seen in the field is using a single Web Application to host everything (My Site & any other team sites etc..); to me this is like putting all your eggs in one basket; instead consider creating multiple...