Hey I was thinking about creating my own small web hosting business. I would like to use free tools to experiment with at first. I don't want to go and buy cpanel YET. With exception of the dedicated server, can someone give me the links to tools to make a small web hosting site (panel etc.)
thanks

Not really that simple, read up in the tutorials section (http://www.webhostingtalk.com/forumdisplay.php?f=94) for starting a web hosting business.
That's a really good section that will help anyone, professional or novice in starting, running, and succeeding in this field of work.

Thank you for that information i really appreciate it

also check www.resellerguide.com And don't go getting a dedi right away, you'll just waste money when you could get a VPS or reseller account for much cheaper. With Reseller Packages you don't have to purchase the Cpanel, your host will have it.

Well you should really do some research first, on hosting prices, control panels, the market, etc.
To start out, you might want to try a reseller account, then move your way up to the VPS and Dedicated Server options.

Well you should really do some research first, on hosting prices, control panels, the market, etc.
To start out, you might want to try a reseller account, then move your way up to the VPS and Dedicated Server options.
Starting out with a reseller account is a great idea, as it allows you to jump into the industry without having to worry about the actual infrastructure -- you'll learn that as you go.

Yeah, a reseller or VPS is a good way to start, you can get some really good ones relatively cheaply, and if you want to go all technicall, I have seen VPS's for about £10 p/m

I would like to agree with the others as well on this matter. From the sounds of it, you are jumping too fast into VPS/Dedicated Servers. I would recommend just starting off with a reseller and getting a feel first. Plus, a reseller is definitely cheaper and you won't be at much of a lost than with a VPS/Dedicated Server.

For learning purposes, I guess you could buy a very cheap reseller account ($5 or thereabouts). It's won't really be suitable to resell from, it'll essentially be a shared hosting account with reseller capabilities, but it will have the features you need to get familiar with.
Then you could get a reseller account that comes with billing software, so you can try that out as well.
Depending on how fast you learn, you might end up spending only a few tens of dollars, which for a business (be it even a small new one) should essentially be spare change.