what art most important features to look for in a web hosting service?

I am new at web design, and in the process of trying to find a good web hosting service. I plan on having lots of videos and photos on my sites, and was wondering what kind of features are the most important for me to be looking for when searching for a web host. Are some servers faster than others? If so, which are the fastest? And is it better to go with a windows or linux server? Are there any other important features that I need to look for? Thanks in advance for any suggestions!

Well, it depends on how much you want to spend.

1. If you’re willing to pay $20+/monthly for hosting I recommend:

http://www.mediatemple.com

http://www.slicehost.com

2. If you want something cheaper I recommend Dreamhost http://www.dreamhost.com/hosting.html

Their standard price is $119.40/year ($9.95/month if you pay yearly) but they currently have a promotion. You can use the promo code PLUS at sign up page and get the $50 discount + 2 Free domain names. This way you get them for $69.40/year ($5.78/month). You can use their huge Disk Space and host unlimited number of subdomains and domains on a single plan.

Disk space: 500 GB
Bandwidth: 5000 GB
2 Free domain names
Price: $5.78/month ($69.40/year)