Updates to Seravo’s Platform in Q2

Spring is in the air, and at Seravo, we’re taking the opportunity to refresh and upgrade our infrastructure to bring you even better performance, security, and easier ways to develop and manage your WordPress site hosted at us. This blog post outlines the major updates coming your way in the next few months.

Site Environment Updates

No action is required from our customers regarding these updates.

Ubuntu and MariaDB

We’re starting this week with a significant upgrade to our site environment, moving from Ubuntu 22.04 (Jammy) to the latest Long Term Support release, Ubuntu 24.04 (Noble). Our goal is to have all sites running on Ubuntu 24.04 by the end of May. This update also upgrades the MariaDB client from 10.6 to 10.11, both tied to the Noble release.

In April, our backend will also get the Noble update, and we’ll be upgrading our MariaDB server from version 10.5 to 10.11. This upgrade will enhance database performance and stability, ensuring your sites run smoothly.

Redis and Valkey

Redis will also receive an update from version 6 to version 7. Additionally, during Q2, we’ll be transitioning to Valkey, an open-source replacement for Redis offering the same functionality. This change requires no action from our customers.

Developer Tools

We’re committed to providing developers with the latest tools to streamline their workflows. This includes upgrading Node.JS from version 20 to 22, npm from 9.8 to 10.9, cURL from 7.81 to 8.5, and Python from 3.10 to 3.12. These updates bring performance enhancements, new features, and improved security.

Summary of Updates

• Ubuntu 22.04 > Ubuntu 24.04
• MariaDB client 10.6 > 10.11
• Redis v6 > v7
  • Switch to Valkey during Q2
• Tools for Developers
  • Node.JS 20 > 22
  • npm 9.8 > 10.9
  • cURL 7.81 > 8.5
  • Python 3.10 > 3.12
• Backend upgrades in April
  • MariaDB server 10.5 > 10.11
  • Ubuntu 24.04

Important Reminders

A couple of important reminders for our customers:

PHP Versions

PHP 8.4 has been available at Seravo since January. Is your site using an outdated PHP version? Please remember that PHP 7.4 reached its end-of-life over two years ago – if your WordPress site is still using 7.4, it’s crucial to ensure updating into a newer version as soon as possible!

Seravo has postponed the deprecation of PHP 7.4 on our platform until the end of December 2025. However, it’s crucial to update to a supported version, with PHP 8.2 being the current recommendation. We’ll be sending out emails and posts about the removal, followed by targeted monthly reminders.

Singapore Cluster Deprecation

Seravo’s server cluster in Singapore (sg-pepper) will be retired during the summer of 2025. More information about the deprecation process and schedule is available in a separate blog post. All affected customers will be contacted directly about the upcoming changes.

Other Enhancements

What else is new? We’re also making improvements to other areas of our services:

Customer Portal Updates

Our customer portal has been under development, and thanks to the input of our beta testers, we’re nearing general availability. The portal is designed exclusively for our customers, and will include many features that make managing your WordPress sites at Seravo easier.

Email Delivery Improvements

Previously, email delivery from non-published sites was not reliable due to failing DKIM checks, and the site’s intended, eventual domain had to be routed to the site before the DKIM checks could pass. A transition into seravo.io customer domains fixes this problem.

Web Application Firewall

We’re expanding our existing security techniques with a web application firewall (WAF), making your sites even more secure. Prior to WAF, our service has had various ways of safeguarding our customers’ sites from harmful web traffic (location restrictions, global firewall rules and restrictions managed by Seravo’s monitoring). With WAF, we’ll be providing more tools for customers to create custom configurations more easily.

Seravo Plugin Improvements

Our Seravo Plugin has received quality improvements, and we’re migrating certain features to the Customer Portal for better integration. Get to know the features of our plugin in the Seravo Knowledge Bank.

SSH/SFTP & Security

To enhance security regarding the SSH/SFTP ports of the sites in our hosting, we’re updating our architecture and eventually enhance SSH/SFTP port visibility and security. More detailed information on this topic can be found in our WordPress Security FAQ.

Got Questions?

We believe these updates will significantly improve your experience with Seravo. We’ll keep you updated throughout the process and are here to answer any questions you may have – just get in touch with us. Stay tuned for further announcements!