I am using a GNU/Linux 12.04 LAMP server set-up in virtualbox on my GNU/Linux ubuntu 64bit laptop.
I haven't received my study material as yet so the above set-up works just fine of web hosting.
If you are a fellow Linux enthusiast and wish to have a similar setup on your system, I wrote a how to set-up virtualbox guide on my blog check it out
here..
If you need help setting up a GNU/Linux LAMP server, please feel free to give me a buzz..
You can download the GNU/Linux ubuntu server (iso) file
here..