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Creating Your Own Server with XAMPP
✦ An FTP server: Sometimes, you want the ability to send files to your
server remotely. The FTP server allows this capability. Again, you proba-
bly don’t need this item for your own machine, but you definitely should
know about it when you use a remote host.
✦ phpMyAdmin: There’s a command-line interface to MySQL, but it’s lim-
ited and awkward. The easiest way to access your MySQL databases is
to use the phpMyAdmin program. Because it’s a series of PHP programs,
it requires a complete installation of PHP, MySQL, and Apache (but, nor-
mally, you install all these things together anyway).
Creating Your Own Server with XAMPP
If the requirements for a Web hosting solution seem intimidating, that’s
because they are. It’s much more difficult to set up a working server system
by hand than it is to start programming with it.
I don’t recommend setting up your own system by hand. It’s simply not
worth the frustration, because very good options are available.
XAMPP is an absolutely wonderful open-source tool. It has the following
packages built in:
✦ Apache: The standard Web server and the cornerstone of the package
✦ PHP: Configured and ready to start with Apache and MySQL
✦ MySQL: Also configured to work with Apache and PHP
✦ phpMyAdmin: A data management tool that’s ready to run
✦ Mercury Mail: A mail server
✦ FileZilla FTP server: An FTP server
✦ PHP libraries: A number of useful PHP add-ons, including GD (graphics
support), Ming (Flash support), and more
✦ Additional languages: Perl, another extremely popular scripting and
server language, and SQLite, another useful database package
✦ Control and configuration tools: A Control Panel that allows you to
easily turn various components on and off
This list is a description of the Windows version. The Mac and Linux ver-
sions have all the same types of software, but the specific packages vary.
Considering the incredible amount of power in this system, the download
is remarkably small. The installer is only 34MB. A copy is included on the
CD-ROM that accompanies this book.
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