I don't know what you plan on offering, but chances are you don't need a full dedicated server to start off with. I'd recommend going with a beefy VPS then upgrading to a dedicated server if the need arises. It will save you a lot of money in the long run.

For dedicated servers I highly recommend ThePlanet (SoftLayer) and for VPS hosting I recommend PowerVPS.

I have multiple servers with ThePlanet and PowerVPS - and I've been using them for years. Support is good, pricing is competitive and the connectivity and uptime is very good as well.

If you need any specific recommendations or anything else, feel free to PM me.

Ryan

I have to agree with unnatural, a dedicated server is only required if you're running a relatively huge thing.

Take a look at one of my websites for example. I had it on a simple $5 shared hosting plan until it reached 2,000 daily visits, then I switched it to a VPS until it reached over 70,000 daily visits, and only then I switched it to a dedicated server. And even with these numbers I could've kept it on a VPS a while longer.

Having a powerful and responsive server (be it a VPS or a dedicated server) does bring some advantages, though. Even Google will give you a better ranking if your website is super responsive and quick to load, however when it comes to website speed it depends much more on your backend / caching / optimization than on the server you're using.

Either way, for both VPS and dedicated servers I recommend ServInt. I've been using them for ages, they're reliable, the staff is responsive, all in all they're great guys.

Good luck!

Use the Cloud!

Amazon EC2 has a free micro tier... very small but enough to get set up on, then as your needs grow you can upgrade your server on the fly. Only pay for what you need.

Dedicated servers are dinosaurs. It takes hours to deploy, hours to get upgraded, etc...

Cloud based servers are the way to go. If your database is overloaded, in 10 minutes you can launch another instance and balance it. need another app server, 10 minutes later you got one...

You pay hourly. For example, you'll probably use 1 large instance for everything. That runs about 4 cents per hour.

Let me know if you need help, It's really easy to get up and running with a LAMP stack and web based server admin tool

I have 3 hosting plans (1 linode VPS 512 - 50Mbit port, and 2 with 1and1 - dedicated (100/Mbit port) and shared) they are working great and are affordable.

I will, too, recommend getting a fast server when you really need it.
You could use that money to buy facebook,google,linked in ads.

You could optimize your site e.g. put images on Amazon EC2 and let php's run off your current hosting...until you hit a limit. then you add some caching and other improvements and then go with VPS.
you can upgrade it and downgrade it very easily within minutes.

If you mean to say that you will be reselling the web hosting services then Dedicated Server is the best choice. Recommendation would require us to know more information of what you actually plan. You can start with the basic Dedicated Servers and upgrade to high end servers later as per your needs.

I definitely recommend starting out with a VPS server (as it'll give you the same exact functionality of running a dedicated server for a fraction of the monthly fee), running Cpanel/WHM and then upgrading to a dedicated server when the load requires it.

As to the company, hands down I recommend Hostgator.com. Great customer service, high quality VPS and dedicated servers and supreme uptime.

I'd recommend starting out with a decent VPS or Cloud solution as well, or a good high quality shared host.

I can highly recommend "HostingSource Inc." I have used them for the past year and a half myself, and they have gone above and beyond.

Try Dediserve Cloud Hosting | Cloud Machines, Cloud Virtual Servers, VPS, Virtual Cloud Datacentres , they have got amazing support that responds in under 10 minutes and all the resources are scalable. I am currently set up on a configuration that is much more powerful than a dedicated server.

10 Xeon X5670 CPUs @ 2.93 Ghz and 12MB Cache
10 GB DDR3 Ram
10 Terabyte bandwidth
500 GB of HDD it's a SAS with 15k RPM!

So, really, a cloud solution is the way to go .

I have been using Amazon EC2 as recommended above for over 18 months. It's cheap and really effective. You can choose machine spec and there's no contract. I also use a separate server for automated marketing purposes and another for my main business websites which I can cluster.

They are good and flexible.

using liquidweb

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