I use DreamHost to host my web pages. More than one tech-saavy friend has been suprised that I use a web hosting provider instead of putting the pages on a computer I maintain. I guess I look at it as outsourcing. I pay a reasonable fee for a service.

Here are things that a web hosting service takes care for me:

1. Hardware upgrades
2. Configuring server software
3. Security updates to software
4. Contacting the upstream provider during DOS attacks
5. Monitoring system load
6. Monitoring disk usage
7. Ensuring 24/7 availability
8. Failover in the case of power failure
9. Managing email addresses
10. Managing DNS records