PHP and MySQL being Upgraded June 18th

We wanted to let you know that A Small Orange will be undertaking a rolling project to upgrade our shared server fleet's PHP version to 5.3.13 and MySQL to version 5.1.

These versions come up with a number of performance enhancements and new features for developers. You can read about them on the following sites:

MySQL 5.1 - dev.mysql.com.../refman/5.1/en/
PHP 5.3X - php.net/releases/5_3_0.php
PHP 5.3.13 - www.php.net/a...#id2012-05-08-1

We do not anticipate any significant issues with regard to the MySQL upgrade, and for most installations, we do not anticipate any issues with the PHP5.3.13 upgrade. For some customers running old versions of software that have not been upgraded, custom software that was written around a 5.2 architecture and not upgraded to be compatible to 5.3, or customers running current software with older plugins, this PHP upgrade could have a detrimental affect on your site's functionality if you have not ensured your site is compatible with PHP 5.3.

Because of the potential for a minority of infrequently updated or outdated sites to have some problems with the upgrade, we will be updating our server fleet in waves, or clusters, so that only a small number of customers are affected at any one given time. We are upgrading in this manner to ensure that we can give any customer that has issues stemming from the upgrade the help they need to understand what the issue is with their software/its incompatibility, as well as guidance on what needs to be accomplished in order to bring it into compliance or if that is not possible what their options are.

These upgrades will begin June 18th, and will continue Monday through Friday of that week and Monday through Friday of the next week, ending on 25th of June. If there are very few issues with the upgrades, we will do updates more frequently and may shorten the amount of time allotted.

Once servers or server groups are updated, we will post a message here as to which servers are complete.

Please let us know if you have any questions.

About time.

I totally understand A Small Orange needs to do this carefully to minimize the disruption these upgrades will cause. But with PHP 5.4 out, PHP 5.2 dead, and some of my favourite projects beginning to rumble about leaving PHP 5.2 compatibility behind, ASOs lack of PHP 5.3 support was a tarnish to the otherwise sterling review I always given when people ask me for hosting recommendations.

Im very pleased that soon I will be able to recommend ASO with no reservations whatsoever.

We have started PHP upgrades, and 10 servers have been upgraded tonight.
You can read more information and a status of these upgrades in this thread:

forums.asmall...ql-51-upgrades/

Upgrades completed Monday June 18th 2012:

belta.asmallorange.com
berna.asmallorange.com
calabrese.asmallorange.com
carvalhal.asmallorange.com
clanor.asmallorange.com
coroa.asmallorange.com
fukuhara.asmallorange.com
galen.asmallorange.com
gardner.asmallorange.com
hamlin.asmallorange.com

Are cloud VPS' factored into these upgrades?

Cloud VPS Clients have the ability to upgrade their own PHP and MySQL at any time they wish, since they have full control over the versions their servers have. We wouldn't want to change anyone's versions since people often customize their instances.

If you would like to upgrade what's on your cloud, you can always email us for any guidance or assistance you might need.

The upgrades overnight tonight have begun, and are:

sunnyd.asmallorange.com
tropicana.asmallorange.com
minutemaid.asmallorange.com
pulpfree.asmallorange.com
belta.asmallorange.com
berna.asmallorange.com
calabrese.asmallorange.com
carvalhal.asmallorange.com
clanor.asmallorange.com
coroa.asmallorange.com
fukuhara.asmallorange.com
galen.asmallorange.com
gardner.asmallorange.com
hamlin.asmallorange.com

Thanks, folks!

Do you know when it is Parson's turn?