lucy24 - 10:23 pm on Jan 8, 2013 (gmt 0)

i know its a silly question but i have heard of linux and windows shared hosting server till know. No idea about how Apache works.

You're mixing two unrelated things. There are two basic types of server, IIS and Apache. Don't know about IIS, but Apache can run on any operating system. You can also get a pseudo-server that runs Apache on your personal computer (Mac, Windows or Linux) so you can test your site exactly the way it would appear in real life. Including things like site-absolute links and php files that you can't do on your local browser.

You don't need to know what OS your server uses. You only need to know whether it's Apache or not-Apache, because that determines whether you're making your rules in htaccess or, er, something else.

Since Apache is more widely used overall, you will find more people who know what to do about it. F'rinstance, we'd offer up at least three different ways to block a blank user-agent ;)