I am Matej Šircelj, a freelance web developer from Slovenia. I have over 10 years experience with internet related software technologies. Over those years I was mostly using PHP, HTML, SQL and JavaScript for making websites. Using Zend Framework, jQuery and ExtJS as frameworks to make my work easier.
A good server setup and knowing what software to use in particular situation is one of the key elements in making a good website. It cuts the maintenance costs and since the page speed is now a factor in search engine optimisation, a slow loading website may cost you a good position in search.
Choosing an appropriate server and database is not an easy task and requires a lot of experience. I am not a great fan of using MySQL (database) and Apache (HTTP server) for more complicated websites although I have most experience with them. For the last couple of years I have been using LiteSpeed and nginx as http server software and PostgreSQL as database software as well. I also have some experience with SQLite.