I'm using apache server and xampp on my laptop as host. Comes with everything I need including phpmyadmin.
As far as securing your php code, you seem to know way more about this stuff than I do. I'm a novice. But...the only thing I've learned of is adding the below to your mysql connect coding:
if(!get_magic_quotes_gpc())
{
$_GET = array_map('mysql_real_escape_string', $_GET);
$_POST = array_map('mysql_real_escape_string', $_POST);
$_COOKIE = array_map('mysql_real_escape_string', $_COOKIE);
}
else
{
$_GET = array_map('stripslashes', $_GET);
$_POST = array_map('stripslashes', $_POST);
$_COOKIE = array_map('stripslashes', $_COOKIE);
$_GET = array_map('mysql_real_escape_string', $_GET);
$_POST = array_map('mysql_real_escape_string', $_POST);
$_COOKIE = array_map('mysql_real_escape_string', $_COOKIE);
}