database and backup question

[kmcheng]

a few questions about database, since I am not a DBA

I know all the order information are in the database
But as time goes by, the database's size goes larger and larger, will this affect the overall performance of the site?

and after I backed up all the db info, should I delete the old data on the server?

but when I deleted them, customers won't be able to find their old orders anymore, would that be a problem?

and, I plan to bring the site down, backup both the web site file and the db, then bring the site up, and repeat this every late night

I don't suppose there are scripts or programs that can automatically do that for me, right?

[kobra]

Just let the DB grow

Maintain a set of files that is current - - they only change when you change them

There are many shell scripts that can backup the DB and be cron'd to run through a cron job