b2netsolutions offer some very good affordable VPS hosting packages, their support is also excellent.

same and also i us ethem as a "personal dropbox" and they dont care (as it should be) and its all pretty fast
ive never ran mysql on this site though... i know that some hosts that seem fast for static/php will be very slow with mysql
only weird thing is that they wanted photos of both sides of my debit card for "confirmation"
they havent stolen my life savings yet though

if you just want to muck around 000webhost is cool and free

I use bluehost and have had zero problems with them.

I use them for a wordpress site and for hosting my music on.

also i want to give a shout out to this guy who taught me HTML basics from this video it was super helpful especially if you want to work from the ground up

yea im mainly looking to host archive files for public download i have jarred hard drives for my personal back up... (which everyone should have)

I have used Dreamhost and been content with it. As Kitsch said earlier, it has its set backs, but who doesn't?... If you do end up going with Dreamhost, here is a pretty sweet deal you don't want to miss: http://kotaku.com/get-a-domain-name-and … 1465102538

if you are using the files in your site, that's cool.  they don't care about that, naturally

i think they are trying to stop people from using their servers like giant hard drives with no connections/links on their web pages (or no web pages at all, more to the point).  piracy, and the like.  or seeding just for torrents or something of this nature

yea ive got a few logins on some filesharing sites...

That's what archive.org and such can be for, if you expect some permanence, or just get a dropbox account for temporary stuff if you haven't already.

so in another words if i used dreamhost id have to think up other data hosting optioins or use my on server.. okok

so what i need now is a reliable photo host who doesnt downgrade quality and i can basically jusy hyperlink to file sharing servers for the rest

there is usually a difference in terms of quality.  a lot of hosting sites downgrade the quality of your photos and do not inform you (redownload them from the host, compare to original, and you'll see)

some store platforms (like bigcartel) are very restrictive in this point.  i've found workarounds for the background/logo and stuff like this (simple things), but doing that for all the product pics would be a bit more than i want to worry with.  bigcartel images are not the same resolution as the original files, it sucks. 

i'd host them yourself, especially if you are leaning towards doing an art site.  if you can in your platform, at least. 

also, 'graph paper press' does some very pretty art-site templates.  with lookbooks and such.  responsive themes.  check them out.

ONE THING I SHOULD MENTION ABOUT DREAMHOST!  they very explicitly do not allow server space to be used simply for storage (like a personal dropbox).  if you have a folder full of music which isn't utilized in your website, just on the server, they can/will remove it.  i'm not sure if this is the same elsewhere, but dreamhost i know is on the lookout for this sort of thing

yea i am looking for file transfers because i want to offer .rar archives of free to use images and music

I use my home server and a free domain.
Not the best for file transfers, but for just html/email/small game servers/seedbox/etc it's great.

also do u recommend hosting photos off server like on a photo site or having the photos uploaded to the server itself? is there a difference aside from data space?

yea im using a code up approach no templates but i will look and see maybe ill use a modified template if it fits the looks im going for but what i have now is pretty spiffy

lolz doin it ghetto wrote my shit in notepad

i think its probably just server maintenance.

which is a good thing for them to do, tbh