lostdrifter0001 0 Newbie Poster

I'm an amature programmer that has recently started to work with php and I think i got it down for the most part. But im currently attempting to develop a custom web administration page. One of the features I would like to add is the ability to see what programs/services are running on the server and be able to start and stop those programs/services. Sadly I don't know where to start.