Need some server specs for beefy SQL server

Given the specs that you've listed (2000+ users a day, multiple queries (tons), changes made daily and also he requested an hourly backup on this as well.) you may want to consider how "beefy" the server needs to be

2000 simultaneous users, or 2000 users throughout the day ?

Just thought I'd metnion that you don't need a powerful server in order to satisfy these needs. (even a laptop can manage an awful lot)

(Obviously it is a trade-off between how mission-critical this system is to you (and how well-designed the datbase(s) are, but you might want to bear this in mind before spending thousands on new hardware)

It all depends on what the server does for you, how large are the tables, how complex the queries are, how much resource is being done by CLR functions or calls to dlls with sp_oacreate or xp_cmdshell... you get the picture I hope. You can swamp a server with a few users or have 2000 users that hardly bother it based on what you are asking it to do. If you want a server that is ready for anything then think about things like very high speed disk subsystems, separate disk subsystems for tempdb and for log files than for the application databases, as much RAM and processor as you can afford. I am kind of partial to dual or quad combinations of the Dual-Core Intel® Xeon® processor 5160 3.00 GHz. If you really want to see it smoke consider a solid state drive for tempdb.

Having just taken a look at HP's website, the main spec is:
2 x DualCore Xeons
RAM (upto 64Gb)
Max internal drives: 16
Storage type:  Hot plug 2.5 SAS or Hot plug 2.5 SATA

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For the database to have already reached 30Gb, it is likely that the database design has been properly thought through (obviously there is no way for us to tell)

1000 users at an average of 2.5 seconds between queries gives an estimate of 400 queries / sec.

You obviously also expect the system to grow, and need to cater for this growth as early as you can.
 
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So, based on the information so far, the HP "Proliant ML370 G5" would seem a reasonable choice.

Since a RAM upgrade is probably the simplest and cheapest component to upgrade, I would suggest going for either 4Gb or 8Gb RAM.

And, as for storage, SATA should be fine (though you may want to consider doubling up on drives (in order to configure a RAID) .... and also to give ample extra space for local backups

Remember to enable AWE memory, and to configure any SQL Maintenace plans.
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