If your in the position of needing web hosting, then there are a couple of areas your going to need to be concerned about.  Primarily, the two main components of web hosting are hardware and software. Of course, the level of detail you need to get involved in or worry about when it comes to web hosting, is determined by your role in the whole process.  If your the actual webhosting company, then your going to be very minutely involved in the details of the operations side of it.  Meaning, you need to be concerned with stuff like are all servers are running, and is the software running on them totally up to date with the latest versions to ensure a safe, secure, and stable environment for your clients.  You may be making decisions about buying new machines, or used Cisco equipment for your data center.   It’s a never ending job.

Now, if your actually a client of the hosting company you have a whole different set of concerns.  While there is bound to be some overlap, the distinction is that certain responsibilities in this process are simply out of your control.  And, that’s a good thing.  That’s why we hire web hosting companies.  But, you will also have concerns regarding your web site that are somewhat similar.  For instance, how will you develop and maintain your website and it’s content.  You may also decide to run a pre existing CMS or blog type software for your site.  This is a different level of responsibility, but one equally important to the success of your site.