Web Designers Adelaide | Internet Technology Platform | Website Designer Adelaide | LAMP Technology Stack

Every website relies on a technology platform, or "stack" that underpins it and enables it to run...

...and some are better than others.

A website technology platform, or technology stack, are terms that are used to describe the base underlying technologies that enable your website to function. This software stack usually resides on a physical computer and consists of; an operating system, and web server, database, and programming language software. In combination, this forms the technology platform on which your online systems rest. Very often this platform will determine what other technologies, software, and systems can be used to develop and build your website going forward. It also has an effect on the development, running, and maintenance costs of your website, so it is important that you are informed and understand your choices up front.

Open Source and proprietary software

One of the most important distinctions between web platforms, (and indeed any website software) is that of "Open Source Software" (OSS) and "Proprietary Software".

Proprietary software is defined as software that is licensed under the exclusive legal right of the copyright holder, with the licensee being given the right to use it under certain conditions, but restricted from other uses, such as modification, further distribution, or reverse engineering. The source code or programming of the software is generally not released or available to the public. This is what is most commonly referred to as "commercial" software.

Open source software is, on the other hand, software that is liberally licensed to grant the right of users to use, study, change, and improve its design through the availability of its source code. This approach has gained both momentum and wide spread acceptance as the many and varied benefits have been increasingly recognized by both individuals and corporations.

disadvantages and advantages

Some of the main disadvantages in using proprietary software include, but are not limited to; licensing fees and additional associated costs, being tied into a single vendor, limited development or modification, reliance on a single source for technical support, fixes and patches, limited flexibility, and often limitations of development resources.

The advantages of Open Source software include the reverse of the items mentioned above and usually also include the benefits of increased security, stability, quality, flexibility, and reliability. Open source software is very often developed in a public, collaborative manner, involving both individuals and companies, which results in constant public/peer scrutiny and review of the code.

Being public peer-reviewed software, its reliability usually far exceeds that of the closed source, proprietary software, and for open source software that has a large, current development and support base, this extends to greater flexibility, higher quality, stability, and security. Well developed open source code is about as robust as software can get.

industry leaders

Just like other industries there are best-of-breed software that has over time proven to be clear leaders. Within the Internet industry a majority of these happen to be open source software. One of the most widely used website platforms is the "LAMP" technology stack; this utilises Linux as the operating system, Apache as the web server, MySQL as the website database and PHP as the online programming language.

The following are some quick statistics to illustrate the status of this software in the online industry.

• Linux is the leading operating system with over 74% of all actual web servers running it.
• Apache is a clear leader in web server software, with a market share of over 66% and a 50% advantage above its closest competitor, Microsoft. It is used by millions worldwide and on some of the all time busiest websites.
• MySQL is the world's most popular open source database and has about the same market share as Microsoft in the global database market. It is also used on the websites of the world’s fastest-growing organizations, such as Yahoo, Alcatel-Lucent, Nokia, Google, YouTube, and Zappos.com
• PHP is an open source scripting language that helps streamline the creation of dynamic web pages. It is used as the server-side programming language on 34% of all web servers. PHP is immensely popular and also used by a lot of big names on the Internet.

What we use and recommend

At Proof Creative, we have done our research, and we believe and support the open source principles in relation to the website platforms. And so, we choose to use, and are committed to, the "LAMP" technology stack, as the underlying technology platform for our open source and tailored online applications. The LAMP platform gives us the invaluable advantage of greater flexibility, interoperability with many other systems, scalability, and many other benefits mentioned, when compared to closed systems platforms in the vein of Microsoft .NET.

summary

In summary, the time and money spent on any website project can be decreased by using a dependable, well tested, licence free, secure, and stable technology platform.

In the following pages we will look further at the use of each of the elements of LAMP and the main benefits that they offer as underpinning technologies and in the development and running of your website project.

Where to next?

• Read about why we choose to use Linux
• Read why Apache is our preferred web server
• Read about the benefits of using MySQL
• Read our reasons for developing with PHP
• Schedule a meeting with us