Know thyself

On the other hand, don't empty your bank account paying for services you don't need.

The most basic level of service from a Web host typically positions your site among a number of others on a single machine, with a virtual domain name that points to the URL of your page. This is known as shared hosting, and is adequate for the simple "text-and-GIFs" variety of Website.

As your company grows, however, you will probably want to move from static HTML to incorporate more interactive elements into your site. Since this requires more bandwidth, you should probably move to a machine with more resources, and fewer sites vying for them. If you want to add streaming video, audio, or high-level graphics and forms to your site, your should probably switch to a dedicated server, which means having an entire machine to yourself. The host owns, maintains, and backs up the server while providing all the security, power management, and other aspects of maintaining a data center.

The highest level of service a Web host can offer is a Colocated Server. You own the hardware, but it's physically located at the host's facility. The advantage of this is that you can choose the bandwidth you'll need, while the host provides a clear pipe to the Internet. Unfortunately, it also means you'll have to pay for any and all security and firewall provisions, as you won't be protected by the host's firewall. While this gives you complete control over the level of security you desire, it can be quite expensive.