I would defiantly recommend you look into reseller hosting first (both shared and vps wise). This way you can learn the industry a little bit while not actually having the big support burden.
In the mean time practice, practice, and practice some more on your own server. Like other mentioned you can put local friends on these boxes and you can mess around with those and learn,
In the mean time practice, practice, and practice some more on your own server. Like other mentioned you can put local friends on these boxes and you can mess around with those and learn,