Since this site is dedicated for wordpress lovers, thought should add a post about #wordpress hosting requirements.
Following guidelines may help you decide.
- A good web server that supports PHP and MySQL(see below) , Apache is preferred
- PHP – Make sure your web hosting account has support for PHP v 4.3 or later.
- MySQL: Your web host should support MySQL database version 4.#1.2 or later.
A note about web server: WordPress can work in any web server that supports PHP and MySQL. But we noticed that in Windows servers, it works, but has performance issues. We suggest that a Linux web server that that supports PHP and MySQL (see versions above), are best candidates for wordpress hosting.
Installing wordpress: Once you find a suitable web host, you caninstall wordpress using following options
Hard way: Once you find a suitable web host, you can download WordPress and then transfer the entire download into your web hosting via ftp and then follow instructions as in WordPress Installation Guide. This also includes creating a MySQL database manually from your control panel.
Easy way: If your web host offers a one click wordpress install, then from your control panel in web host, you can easily install and create a wordpress blog under 2 minutes. This is not only a time saver, but also saves you other headaches explained above. This article is a good help in this regard.