Benefits of tried & tested software versions
We’re often asked by customers why we’re running an old version of PHP or MySQL on our Cloud VPS services as they’re worried that they may be insecure or outdated, but rest assured this couldn’t be further from the truth!
We use extremely stable versions of enterprise software with many benefits over the latest available releases to ensure your web services are always available (and give you the option to change this if you wish!).
Mature, stable and well tested code
The enterprise versions of PHP, MySQL and Apache that we install by default are in fact a lot more stable than the latest releases. The versions that we use are based on the original code but have all important bug fixes and security vulnerability patches back-ported to them by a very experienced team of software engineers. This results in mature, stable and well tested code without any of the problems that may have existed in the original release.
Enterprise software lifecycle
This software is maintained by an enterprise Linux vendor who support each OS release for many years. For example our new Cloud VPS range include CentOS Enterprise Linux 6 as standard which is maintained until 2020. In practice that means that code you write today that runs properly on your server will continue to be compatible and stable until 2020! Any security issues or serious bugs that arise in the underlying server software in the meantime can be addressed without changing your website code, for example if you rely on behaviours specific to PHP 5.3.3 and there’s a security vulnerability identified within PHP and patched in 5.4.1 it can be backported to 5.3.3 so that your code continues to operate without any changes. This allows us to patch your servers in as little as 24 hours from when new critical security patch or bugfix is released by the software vendor (depending on your Cloud Hosting SLA from your selected care pack) and usually without any impact to your service at all!
Over time a team of highly skilled experts for a large enterprise Linux vendor select a relatively stable “new release” software version, heavily test the software to ensure compatibility with other software on your server, and implement stability patches to improve the software reliability. This vendor then takes over responsibility for maintaining the software for a long lifecycle (for up to 10 years!) – but this process takes time and so while you may see an older version of software on your Cloud VPS it’s nothing to be worried about, and actually this ensures your website remains fast, stable and secure.
Early access to new features
When a new software version is released it will usually contain bug fixes, security patches and additional features. The problem with this is that the fixes and additional features are packaged in a single update which means multiple changes are introduced at once – often leading to the introduction of more bugs and security vulnerabilities. Another issue often faced when running applications on the latest releases of software is that upon discovery of a security vulnerability, you’re forced to update to a newer version which will likely include a number of functionality changes; potentially causing problems with your application code. This means that you’re constantly having to rewrite code just to maintain compatibility (and consider that there are new releases every few weeks sometimes – that isn’t a very practical situation!).
Comparison
| Enterprise Version | Latest Version | |
|---|---|---|
| Number of Bugs | Low | High |
| Severity of Bugs | Low – Medium | Medium – High |
| Security | High | Low |
| Upgrade Compatibility | No major changes to your website code needed | Major code changes are often necessary |
| Testing | Comprehensive | Limited |
| Reliability | Very reliable | Less reliable |
| Maintenance | Fully maintained by enterprise Linux vendors | Usually maintained by the open-source community |
| Life Cycle | Long – often 5+ years | Short – often less than 3 months! |
| Features | Lacks some newer features | Latest features |
What if I need the latest features?
Enterprise versions of software work for the majority of our customers, but the obvious downside which affects some customers is that some of the features from the latest releases are unavailable. In this scenario, we’re able to upgrade the specific software to the latest stable release upon request and will also proactively patch it should any security vulnerabilities be discovered. Our Managed Cloud Hosting specialists can help you with this any time 24×7.
For these reasons, we only recommend an upgrade to a later version of software if it’s required for the added functionality rather than just for the increase in version number!