This topic describes the product lifecycle policy, product end-of-life (EOL) policy, version numbers and their meanings, version mapping, and key lifecycle events for Hologres.
Background information
Product updates are a common practice for infrastructure software. Hologres is developing rapidly, and new versions provide more powerful and user-friendly features. As a result, older versions in service gradually become outdated. Their features may no longer meet your evolving business needs, and they face increasing challenges in application stability, usability, and system compatibility. New versions gradually replace these older versions. Lifecycle management allows for the scheduled introduction of new product versions. This helps you keep your technology up-to-date and improves product efficiency. For information about the features of each Hologres version, see Release notes. To provide better enterprise-level services and offer insights into future product evolution, Hologres has established a lifecycle management system. This system considers your internal costs for migration and validation, stability concerns, and long-term IT planning. It clarifies the product lifecycle and EOL policies to help you understand the rules and prepare in advance.
Product lifecycle policy
The product lifecycle policy describes the process of a Hologres version from its official release to its end of service (EOS). The following figure shows the details of the Hologres product lifecycle policy.
|
Milestone |
Full Name |
Definition |
Phase Timeline |
Description |
|
GA |
General Availability |
General Availability |
Month T |
Can be officially released for use in production environments. |
|
EOS |
End of Service |
Service termination |
Month T + 2 years |
New versions, including patch versions, are no longer released. Note
During the EOS phase, services such as technical support, issue resolution, and Service-level agreement (SLA) compensation are discontinued. |
-
Each phase will not start earlier than its scheduled time. The specific start time will be announced through notification channels at least three months in advance.
-
If a version has a critical bug that could cause significant loss, such as a security issue or data inaccuracy, Hologres reserves the right to perform an emergency upgrade. The upgrade will use a compatible, patched version within the same major version.
-
For instances that have reached EOS, if Hologres Operations and Maintenance (O&M) determines that an instance poses a potential stability threat to you or the entire cluster, Hologres O&M reserves the right to upgrade the instance during an O&M window. The instance will be upgraded to a stable version that is within its General Availability (GA) period.
-
You can view the current and upgrade versions of an instance on the Instance Details page in the Hologres console. For more information, see Common errors during upgrade preparation.
Version numbers and their meanings
Hologres uses a two-part numbering scheme to specify product releases. The version format is Major.Minor. The following list describes the meaning of Major and Minor in the version number.
-
Major: Indicates fundamental changes and new features in Hologres. The major version number is incremented based on the size and scale of the changes in a release.
-
Minor: Indicates quality improvements and fixes for existing features. The minor version number is incremented when multiple quality improvements are added to a release.
|
Version |
Meaning |
Hologres upgrade policy |
Example |
|
Major version |
New features and bug fixes for Hologres. |
Upgrades the Major part. |
|
|
Minor version |
Compatible features and bug fixes for Hologres. |
Upgrades the Minor part. |
|
Version mapping and key lifecycle dates
The following table lists the GA and EOS dates for each Hologres version.
|
Hologres major version |
GA |
EOS |
|
0.7 |
2020-04 |
2022-04 |
|
0.8 |
2020-10 |
2022-10 |
|
0.9 |
2021-01 |
2023-01 |
|
0.10 |
2021-05 |
2023-05 |
|
1.1 |
2021-10 |
2023-10 |
|
1.3 |
2022-07 |
2024-07 |
|
2.0 |
2023-04 |
2025-04 |
|
2.1 |
2023-10 |
2025-10 |
|
2.2 |
2024-04 |
2026-04 |
|
3.0 |
2024-07 |
To be determined |
|
3.1 |
2025-06 |
To be determined |
|
3.2 |
2025-06 |
To be determined |
|
4.0 |
2025-09 |
To be determined |
Service commitments and recommendations
-
Compatibility
-
Hologres does not guarantee compatibility between major versions. However, Alibaba Cloud makes every effort to maintain compatibility of program logic, SQL syntax, and interfaces between different major versions. Any potential incompatibilities will be communicated through documentation or after-sales service.
-
Hologres guarantees compatibility between minor versions within the same major version. This compatibility covers SQL syntax, interfaces, and the engine framework but does not cover business logic or data processing. Therefore, upgrade your product to the latest minor version within the same major version to ensure compatibility.
-
-
Bugs
If you are not using the latest version, you can upgrade to a later version (major or minor) to fix related bugs, in accordance with the compatibility policy. For example, if your job uses version 1.1.33 and the latest Hologres version is 1.3.40, upgrade the database engine version to 1.3.40 or later to fix the bugs.
Announcement channels, such as the Release notes, will notify you about feature releases and bug fixes.
Related services and notifications
Based on the preceding lifecycle policy rules and version mapping, we will:
-
Plan the lifecycle for each Hologres version and communicate it to you during product interactions and service processes.
-
Notify the root account that purchased the product at least three months before a key lifecycle milestone. Notifications are sent through official website announcements, product documentation announcements, internal messages, emails, or text messages. To receive these notifications, the account must be subscribed to product update messages in the Message Center.
-
Help you assess job-related operational threats and discuss solutions before a version's service is stopped.
-
After a version's service is stopped, Hologres O&M will proactively upgrade the instance in scenarios where stability is affected. The instance is upgraded to a stable version that is within its GA period.