Not going to start a "best IRCD" war here as it certainly wont help the original poster. However it all depends what type of host method you are going to use. If you can afford a few $ a month then go for a VM host service (ircd shell). Use google to look for yourself. I am very lucky I have a friendly host service that helped me out a lot when I first started out. My point is try to use a nix box if you can, Windows is not the best way to run an IRCD.
Regards
Ultraviolent
