Rory,
we host Moodle for many K-12 schools in the US and have used Windows and Linux with MySQL DB. Linux and MySQL has by far the largest user base in Moodle and is the most stable and scalable solution. Another advantage is that bugs are fixed in Linux/MySQL much faster (due to larger base)
You don't say how large a "concurrent" user base your server must support, but for smaller numbers 15-30 concurrent users a decent desktop server (2 to 4 Gb RAM, Newer dual core CPU, and fast SCSI drive 80 - 300GB should be enough. Mirrored if possible) This is not an expensive server if you must buy it yourself.
Most professional IT people here recomment setting up the major portions of Moodle (e.g. the PHP, Apache webserver, and MySQL
Database separately if you have the expertise, but you really need to know the components well to do this. If you have much less technical expertise a nice integrated options is the Edubuntu linux platform. It includes a Moodle distribution that many people say is simple to setup, and the simplified linux kernal is based on the Debian linux that is known for its stability. Many people have set this up in less than an hour on newer standard equipment. (Don't try it on older DELL PowerEdge webservers, they use a RAID card that does NOT work with UBUNTU!!!!!) The Edubuntu linux is often recommended in these forums. If you are at a university, you should have some staff in other department with at least some Computer science expertise they should be able to help you with the Linux - Moodle setup.
You can try Moodle on Windows 2003 server as well, but Apache 2.x and PHP under windows 2003 has a bad track record. You
MUST get the right versions of the components to make it work. If memory serves me right PHP v 5.2.1 is known to be a very stable release that works well with a later versions of Apache Web server possibly v 2.4 or 2.5+ and a newer MySQL 5.x.x Look are in these forums for successful platforms. The VERSIONS are absolutely critical to success. Several people have used Microsoft's IIS v6 with PHP as an ISAPI module (don't do IIS and PHP as
CGI process it is too slow).
If you decide you have to host be find out how much control you have over the MySQL and PHP setup with HOST. To run a successful Moodle you need to performance tune the MySQL as your number of users grows and If you share a hosted MySQL server and CANNOT change the MySQL tuning parameters your Moodle may not scale. Worse, many hosting sites are now virtual and don't tell you how much dedicated RAM you get, one big company I called in the USA adverstizes Moodle support all over but will admit (if you ask them firmly...) that they only give the low end Moodle host servers 256MB of RAM this I am worried is far too little to be effective given PHP's memory hunger. so ask lots of questions. Good luck and look over these forums well there is lots of hard-earned wisdom here, problem is it is spread out in bits/pieces all over! Good luck and be sure to ask around your college for help on Linux too
Mark H.
MPls, MN
