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Shared vs. Dedicated
Shared
Shared hosting means that your website will be on a server along with a bunch of other websites. The advantage is that your price is going to be very cheap. Some sellers out there are charging as little as $15 a year. That web server can have up to several hundred websites running at once. Shared hosting will do just fine for you if you are just starting out. You can always move your site to a dedicated server later if you so desire.
Dedicated
Dedicated hosting is where your website is the only one on that server, and you have full control over that server. Dedicated hosting is expensive ($100 /mo+), but it is very nice to have. A dedicated server will give you freedom. It will allow you root access to configure and optimize the server to however you want. It also reduces your dependency on your web host.
Reseller Web Hosting
What's reseller web hosting? Well, since everybody is about making money here on eBay, somebody came up with the idea of reselling web hosting. Here's how it works - I can go to a reseller hosting company, sign up for let's say $30/month. I am then given the option to add as many websites to my hosting package as I want, so I can turn around and sell space to others. My personal opinion - avoid it at all costs. Why? Because there are too many middlemen involved. If you buy hosting space from a reseller, you have the hosting company selling to the reseller which is selling to you. What happens if either one has a problem, or worse yet - goes out of business? You will be affected! Your best bet it to get as close to the source as possible. I run a hosting company, and I only sell space on my dedicated server to decrease the changes for problems later on down the line.
Windows vs. Linux
Windows and Linux are both operating systems that run on the web servers. You don't have to know a great deal of information on both to make a decision, but the more information you know, the better. First off, just because you have a Windows PC does not mean you have to have a Windows server. It has no bearing whatsoever. With that out of the way, what else do you need to know? You need to know what your website needs to do in order to function the way you want it to. Interactive websites need ASP, PHP, Perl, etc to function, and some of those languages won't work in both environments.
Linux hosting is the most widely used. Linux makes the best use of the server's resources, and it's more stable. Not to mention it's free and open-source. The biggest question you need to answer is what you plan on running on it. If you are running scripts like PHP, Perl, or MySQL, Linux is the way to go. If your website is going to require extensive database use, Windows might be better. Personally, I've used Linux servers for some pretty large databases without a problem, but statistics show that Windows servers can be better for large databases.
Unlimited Space vs. Limited Space
How can companies offer 'unlimited space' and 'unlimited bandwidth'? The answer is simple - they can't! When you come to a company that claims that they can give you unlimited space and bandwidth, they are lying to you. If you site gets busy to a point, they will cut you off. Think about it - can you think about anything else that costs a fixed price for an unlimited quantity? I can't. It's not economical. After you start using a certain amount of their resources, they will no longer be making any money off of you, and they will cut you off.
Another thing to consider - most companies that offer unlimited disk space and unlimited bandwidth will limit your files to pictures and text only. They won't let you store movie clips or audio files of any kind. If you still think after reading this that you want this type of service, be sure to read through their TOS, because if you start putting content up on their servers that they don't allow, they will take down your site and possibly ban you from their service.
Disk Space - How Much?
Most people think they need way more space then they actually do. If you just have an informational website for your business with 20 pages or less, you only need 10MB of space, and that would include the space for up to 20 email accounts. Even if you are hosting a large catalog with 200 items, you will only need about 300MB of space. I am an eBay PowerSeller, and I host all my pictures off of my website. I also never delete my mail - for two years now. Want to know how much space I'm taking up? Currently 25MB. That's how companies like Gmail can claim to offer so much space - same principle - they know you aren't going to use it all.
Customer Support
Customer support is very important in choosing a web host. What happens if you site goes down or the server has problems? You will want to contact your host and get the problem solved as fast as possible. You could be loosing money every minute your site is down! I would only choose a web host with 24/7 phone support. And better yet, be sure to call them at 2am, just to make sure that they keep to their word. I'm going to leave names out here, but I dealt with a hosting company that advertised 24/7 phone support, and it was not that. I couldn't even get on the phone with them during normal business hours! Be sure to put the company to the test with their support before you subscribe to them.
Companies With 1 Year+ Contracts
Why should a company make you stay with them for an extended period of time? Their service should be good to the point that you wouldn't want to switch. If a company is trying to get you in a contract, I would avoid them. Their are many others to chose from.
Conclusion
Now that you have read this, you should have a general knowledge on how to go out and find a hosting company that can fit your needs. I will probably write some more in-depth guides in the future, so be sure to check with my Me Page for my most recent guides. If you found this guide to be helpful, be sure to say so.
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