Linux Web Hosting Overview - LAMP and Whatnot
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Before choosing what kind of hosting to use, the user needs to determine what will be required of his or her site applications. Keep in mind that web hosting is usually offered as part of your provider's Internet access plan, many times free of charge and of the Linux-based variety. Linux web hosting also presents a wide variety of software available for use. The most common configuration is the LAMP platform, which consists of Linux, Apache, MySQL, and PHP/Perl/Python.
The LAMP combination represents a solution stack (software components required to initiate a fully functional product or service, usually online) that can be used to support and run websites or servers. When put to use, they define web server infrastructures and the programming paradigm of developing software. It can also be used to launch a software distribution package. LAMP is popular because Linux is so cheap in itself, and it usually comes with the LAMP components, the first of which, Linux, is the operating system and has already been discussed.
Apache is the web server component of LAMP. It is an HTTP server and, like Linux, is free and open source software. It provides access to most websites on the Internet and is available for both Unix and Linux. It is the most widely used web server on the market today.
MySQL is the database management system used in LAMP. It is multithreaded and multi-user with the ability to give users access to databases by operating as a server. It has more than 10 million installations.
The programming languages used in LAMP can be either PHP, Perl, or Python. PHP (Hypertext Preprocessor) is mostly used in server-side application software. Perl is a script programming language similar to C and has features borrowed from shell scripting, AWK, and Stream Editor (sed). Python is a multi-paradigm (mostly functional, object-oriented, and imperative) programming language similar to Perl. (Sometimes Ruby on Rails is used in place of PHP, changing the acronym to LAMR.) These languages can be used with Windows-based web hosting, but they are used primarily on Linux web servers.
Please keep reading for a comparison of the two most popular kinds of web hosting, Linux and Windows.
Next: Linux vs. Windows >>
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