LAMP: Linux Apache MySQL PHP

LAMP, Linux, Apache, MySQL, PHP, a very open combination for rapid development of your projects.   All but MySQL are open source.

Linux, a good platform, however there is MAMP for mac, XAMP and WAMP for the pc, and I'm sure there are even more I'm leaving out.  Since PHP is so well supported, the platform is really not important.  It more the version of Apache, or more importantly what modules are loaded in the hosting site which become an issue.

Apache has been around for so long, it is really reliable.  If you watch the CERT advisories, there will be exploits in Apache and PHP which a good hosting site will keep on top of.

MySQL, not really open source, but free.  I don't think you want to modify it anyway, databases are really complicated, and beyond the scope of most web sites.

PHP has been around for a long time, and I really wish it were more structured like Java or C#, but you cannot have everything.  It supports object programming in a pretty clunky way, but all I can say is it is not as bad as Perl.  PHP is rock solid, and I don't ever think I've seen an issue with the Zend engine, they have bean all my very own bugs.

For administering a LAMP site, phpMyAdmin is really handy, and can be used to manage your database.  It also can be used for backing up your web site.  If possible we will install phpMyAdmin on your website for backing up your database.  For really large databases, this won't be practical, and there are server side solutions run by cron which will do the job.