Plesk 11 ftw!
Don't even suggest for someone to start their journey with PLESK 9/10! The security improvements in PLESK 11 and general improvements across the board provide the perfect starting point.
If you don't want to pay for the license fee in one go and have to pay for SUS, get a leased license with a server from Abdi's company, GoDaddy, 1and1, VPS.net, [service provider here].
I personally use 1and1 and I have opinions on them - some great, some not great. They offer serial console access and backup space with each server, which I believe to be two features that you should not be without.