new and clueless

I am a recent college grad (business not computer science degree!) have my sights set on the challenge of starting an online business. My website can easily be described as a "youtube.com" with a charitable twist. Im having trouble figuring out what content programs will be need on my website, and how hosting is involved. On my site i need video upload capability (identical to youtube)and in a hosting service i dont really know what i need. do i need a dedicated server to allow high traffic and multimedia etc? I guess my question in a nutshell is, what does a small but with room to grow youtube site have under the hood? If im in the wrong place i apolgize and please point me in the right direction.

I guess you're asking what can I do now to ensure my site can scale if I get a lot of traffic later on.
Well you could start by hosting the videos on an amazon s3 account and let amazon handle the traffic. Short term you could host the site itself on A VPS accoutn and therefore keep costs low.

Thanks for the reply i am reading up and came across some more questions. "VPS generally has limited processor time, RAM, and disk space" How true is this and would it effect a site like mine. When storing videos how much space is necessary. Also how does an amazon s3 account and a VPS work togeather. Or are you saying start on a vps and then move to amazon? sorry if the questions are stupid, but i have to learn somewhere. thanks for your help

Here's a link about s3 and videos http://www.reelseo.com/amazon-storag...online-videos/

thanks alot, i will be out of town the rest of the week in the sticks of the midwest, but am look forward to getting my feet wet in this website as soon as i get back! I thank you and hopefully your help will be avaliable when i get back. have a good thanksgiving.