Moodle runs on any web server that supports the PHP programming language and a database. It works best, and there is more support, when running on the Apache web server with a MySQL database. These requirements—Apache, PHP, and MySQL—are common to almost all commercial web hosts, even the cheaper ones.

The Moodle learning management system resides in three places on your web host:

• The application occupies one directory, with many subdirectories for the various modules
• Data files that the students and teachers upload—such as photos and assignments submitted by students—reside in the Moodle data directory
• Course material that you create with Moodle (web pages, quizzes, workshops, lessons, and so on), grades, user information, and user logs reside in the Moodle database