Introduction
Coweeta LTER serves thousands of pieces of data to researchers and to the public.  In an effort to publish this information in a customizable and efficient manner, a design decision was made to serve much of the Coweeta LTER website dynamically, generating pages on the fly according to the needs of our users.  Coweeta LTER utilizes servers with Windows 2000 operating systems, serving our web site using Apache web services, PHP, and MySQL.  In keeping with our core mission of making the results of our research and efforts available for the public good, Coweeta LTER has provided this guide for those who wish to adapt these technologies to their own needs.

Why Apache, PHP, and MySQL?
How do Apache, PHP, and MySQL work together? 
What is Apache HTTP Server?
What is PHP?
What is MySQL?
  System Requirements
  Installing Apache Server, PHP, & MySQL

Why Apache, PHP, and MySQL?
Ecological science, research, and human knowledge will advance most rapidly if there is a synthesis of what we learn as individuals into a larger community.  Synthesis of research is the basis for the future of LTER research, and outside of the LTER core, there is great benefit in positioning organizations to participate as fully as possible in larger communities.  In order to participate to the fullest extent, there must be agreement, at some level, of standards that allow networks to connect.  In the human experience, language can be considered a standard. Two people that can speak the same language can communicate; two people who cannot speak the same language will have their ability to communicate sorely hampered. 

Coweeta LTER understands very clearly that to participate fully in a worldwide community there is a need to adopt and adhere to standards.  Even though the concept of standards is an evolving process, we do have the ability to make decisions now.  The basis for Coweeta LTER's decision to adopt Apache, PHP, and MySQL has its foundation in three concepts:  1) a mission to select tools for sharing information that are, with the information currently available, currently the most widely adopted and have the potential to endure.  2) a mission to select tools that fit most aptly into a community dedicated to sharing knowledge for the sake of knowledge alone.  This is in no way a rejection of commercially available tools, but we determined that if we could find tools that were open source, freely available, and part an ever-growing world standard, our goals would be met.  3) a mission to select tools that are scalable; tools that, in theory, will not limit Coweeta LTER's ability to meet its goals.

How do Apache, PHP, and MySQL work together? 
More detailed information is provided below, but the succinct answer is: 
-Apache HTTP Server provides the web service - it is the engine that allows web pages to be served to the Internet.
-MySQL is the database - it is the engine that stores information - information that can be gathered and served in human readable formats across the Internet.
-PHP is the scripting language that connects MySQL and HTML - it is the engine that tells web browsers what information should be gathered from MySQL and how this information should be displayed to the viewer.

What is Apache HTTP Server?
Apache web servers are the most used servers in the world, so the goal of standard is overwhelmingly met.  Apache has been the most popular web server on the Internet since April, 1996.  More than 64% of web sites on the Internet are using Apache, thus making it more widely used than all other web servers combined.

What is PHP?
Self-referentially short for PHP: Hypertext Preprocessor, an open source, server-side, HTML embedded scripting language used to create dynamic Web pages. In an HTML document, PHP script (similar syntax to that of Perl or C ) is enclosed within special PHP tags. Because PHP is embedded within tags, the author can jump between HTML and PHP (similar to ASP and Cold Fusion) instead of having to rely on heavy amounts of code to output HTML. And, because PHP is executed on the server, the client cannot view the PHP code. PHP can perform any task that any CGI program can do, but its strength lies in its compatibility with many types of databases. Also, PHP can talk across networks using IMAP, SNMP, NNTP, POP3, or HTTP. PHP was created in 1994 by Rasmus Lerdorf.

What is PHP's function in generating dynamic websites?  PHP is the scripting code that serves web pages to the Internet.  PHP is the actual language of the web document, but in addition to providing instruction to web browsers of how to display a web page, PHP also provides instruction on interacting with databases to dynamically generate the information.

Learn more about PHP.

What is MySQL?
MySQL is the world's most popular open source database.  MySQL is a type of SQL database management. A database is an organized collection of information that a computer uses to select and display data. Databases can help organize and enhance your site content. Sites with dynamic pages and/or shopping cart software often need an underlying database structure.

Learn more about MySQL.

System Requirements
Coweeta LTER has implemented and tested our implementation consistent with the following: