Solution Stack 101: Why Cost-less LAMP Works

Solution Stack 101: Why Cost-less LAMP Works

As promised, we switch today to the open-source solution stack LAMP. What the Windows Server-Internet Information Services-Microsoft SQL Server-ASP.NET stack is for the Windows environment, the open-source equivalent to cobble together a Web application is LAMP. For the benefit of newbie’s, LAMP stands for:

1. Linux (the operating system);

2. Apache (the Web server);

3. MySQL, (the database management system)

4. Perl, PHP, and/or Python (scripting languages).

While tapping out this post on my trusty Blackberry Curve, the RoR evangelists at HyTech Professionals (www.hytechpro.com) did their level best to convince me to get with the times, ditch LAMP and embrace LAM-R (or LARM, if you will). Maybe they have a point about that Ruby on Rails as an efficient scripting tool.

To get back on track, however, why would any “bleeding-edge” IT manager or developer stake their business’ computing future on an open-source stack made of distro’s for which upgrades or new features come sporadically? Well, the primary advantage of LAMP really is very low cost of acquisition, even after ISV’s and integrators market enhanced versions. Affordability is vital for at least two reasons:

1. In the aftermath of the dot-com collapse, the technology startup or budding e-commerce venture that had the backing of angel investors was very rare indeed. Many would never have made it as far as they did if they had invested six figures right away in licensed platforms.

2. LAMP is a fantastic risk reduction option when you consider the Gartner report that nearly two-thirds of application development projects fail. Many a canny CIO has learned to buck the odds by prototyping or doing proof-of-concept in LAMP so that the cost of acquiring the latest components for a Windows stack does not come back to haunt him and cause many a sleepless night.

In my next post, we will take a look at more scenarios where budget-friendly LAMP stacks pay off, at least in the medium term.