: Newbie looking for some help, iis vs wamp I have been banging my head against a wall for several days now, searches rarely uncover the issue I'm having or a solution to the problem. Which

I have been banging my head against a wall for several days now, searches rarely uncover the issue I'm having or a solution to the problem. Which I'm sure is a combination of my ignorance and not knowing what to search for.

I am trying to host my own website, nothing big or extravagant but there have been a number of issues I've run into and I'm not even sure what my options are, much less how to solve them. I have Windows Server 2012 R2 Datacenter with the Windows Server Essentials role installed. My server is multi-use and I rely on the Essentials to perform the tasks I need. A part of the Essentials install is IIS, which I'm not very familiar with so I thought I would just installed WAMP Server and develop the site from there, only to find that port 80 is in use from IIS.

So really I need some advice, this is all new for me and I have no idea what I'm doing nor what my options really are. So I have a series of questions, and I hope someone can give me some path to follow to achieve the results I am after.

The website I am hoping to build will be html 5, CSS3, but I was hoping to be able to install my vBulletin forum software, which has requirements for things like php, mysql etc. This site will be mostly a visual portfolio of my experience and skills... or lack there of right now lol. I don't need anything super complex but I don't want to be too limited in what I can do on my site. I'm a novice at pretty much everything aside form some basic server management experiences. I'm not a coder, developer etc, yet.. so please temper your answers with that in mind.

I guess my question is what should I be using as a base for hosting my site? IIS or WAMP? I was going to use WAMP just for ease of use as I'm somewhat familiar with it, but I'm open to anything. If I was to stick with IIS I would need to know what I would need to install to allow me to complete my previously stated goals? Would I need to install php, mysql etc? If I was to stick with WAMP how could I get the website to pull up if its not able to use port 80? I know I could use the port to access the site directly but I want the url to simply be "www.exampledomain.com".

I'm open to feedback, I don't know what I don't know so it's hard to be sure if I'm asking the right questions. I really hope someone has the time to help me through this.

Update:
To be clear, I am not seeking advice on operating system, network security, or anything else not specified above. I am intent on using Windows 2012 and either IIS or WAMP and to answer the specific questions I posed. I am aware this is opinion but I am not asking which is best. I am also aware of the differences in potential security issues between the two, however I am simply seeking advice on how to best utilize what I already have in place for ease of use of a new potential web developer. I need facts about them so I can make an informed decision on to best approach.

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