Local severs are good for building a testing environment on your local computing devices like laptops, desktop computers etc. Earlier we have posted some tutorials on installing LAMP server. Now in this tutorial we are listing some of the best local server applications that comes packed with Apache, MySQL, PHP and a few with even WordPress installed in them.
This way you can easily setup a local testing environment which is very useful for testing things locally without the fear of breaking down your live website.
Why Use Local Servers?
Have you ever activated plugin/theme and noticed errors or a breakdown of your website, sometimes websites becomes in-accessible after new updates and plugin conflicts or may be if you are developing your own plugin/theme and you don’t want to test it on your live website.
A local sever saves you from testing your new ideas dangerously on a live website. But that doesn’t means you cannot test things live, if you are a WordPress user then you can create a sandbox (testing environ) of your live website online.
Common Disadvantage Of A Local Server:
The most common disadvantage of a local server is when you install new applications/extensions, it uses data from your internet data plan which sometimes increases costs and in-case if you are having a slow internet connection then installing & testing new plugins becomes slow.
For Example: On a local WordPress site, installing a 8MB plugin will utilize your internet plan’s 8MB data because first the plugin is downloaded on your local drive whereas when you install it online, it only takes a page refresh because then the plugin is installed online on your web server.
Creating an online testing environ is also easy, you can either create a subdomain and install WordPress there or you can create a sandbox testing environ of your live website or you may clone your website to other online locations.
Local Servers For Building A Testing Environ On Your Local Computing Device:
XAMPP Server
XAMPP is a completely free, easy to install Apache distribution containing MySQL, PHP, and Perl. The XAMPP open source package has been set up to be incredibly easy to install and to use. Works on Linux, OS X and Windows.
MAMP Server
MAMP stands for Macintosh, Apache, MySQL and PHP. It enables you to set up a localhost on OS X.
ServerPress
Have your headlights focused on WordPress? Stop waiting on slow network connections or DNS propagation. Try out our DesktopServer application and take your localhost development to the next level.
WAMP Server
WampServer is a Windows web development environment. It allows you to create web applications with Apache2, PHP and a MySQL database. Alongside, PhpMyAdmin allows you to manage easily your databases.
Instant WordPress
Instant WordPress is a complete standalone, portable WordPress development environment. It turns any Windows machine into a WordPress development server. It will even run from a USB key.