[jkarneges]

There's a common misconception about the number of TCP connections a server can handle being limited by the number of local ports (~64K). The real limit is in the number of LocalIP+LocalPort+RemoteIP+RemotePort pairs. If your traffic is coming from arbitrary Internet addresses, then you are not limited by ports.

Of course you'll be limited by other factors such as kernel fd limits (which are adjustable) and the CPU needed to monitor lots of sockets.