We got just one word forhttp://slicehost.com - Awesome.

This is the future of hosting, now.
If you are looking for your very own dedicated server, then this is the company for you. Period.

What it means to have a dedicated Slicehost server?

Well, you manage everything.
You pick the flavor of Linux (Centos, Ubuntu, Fedora, etc), manage security, and all the needed application you have to install and manage.  This is not for the faint of hearts and requires that you pull your sleeves up to become a true administrator.

So why is this a good option?

• Well for one Slicehost has a beautiful simple web interface to install any flavor of Linux with a lick of a couple mouse buttons and 2 minutes later its ready for you to jump in to configure.
• Web based applet with command line interface to log in and manage your server.
• 2 Minute image backup and restore for just $5 per month with up to 3 versions.
• The actual server with raid10, ensures that your data is super safe.
• As your needs grow you can upgrade your slice to higher processing power in about 5 min.
• No limit on number of domains you can host (true for ixwebhosting as well).

So, how does it compare to shared hosting? No comparison.

If you value your data and would like a simple backup system to ensure business continuity you can’t beat the backup service offered by slice host with 3 images of your server as backup.  We are talking FULL server image, the flavor of linux, all apps, all databases ...everything.  Plus the backup on Slicehost is AUTOMATED, the system will take backup per a schedule that you set.  You will not find this feature in Shared Hosting, and even on MOST other dedicated server solutions.

Unlike shared hosting accounts, you get full utilization of your server configuration and for the most part even the smallest slice of 256 MB would blow away any shared hosting site in terms of speed and features.

To top it off you can actually run all the services like email server, dns server, ftp server on the smallest of slices at Slicehost.com  (256 slice).

So, what the bad part at Slicehost?

Well, there is no web management tool like Cpanel or Hsphere as you own the server and will need to pay for Cpanel and have that installed if you so wish.  One alternate option is to use Webmin - a free tool which is quite powerful and pretty easy to use.  See our tutorials on how to get up and running using Webmin on Slicehost with the CentOS version of linux.

Also, we would have liked a much higher payout for referrals :) but the Slicehost product and service is soooo good that we still recommend it as #1

Checkout our Linux CentOS configuration how-to
 Get you up to speed on Slicehost hosting account in just a few hrs.
This tutorial will take you from a fresh install to having everything up and running using the free Webmin hosting control panel.