EOL Software: Definition, Risks, Examples, & Secure

EOL stands for End-of-Life and pertains to the purpose when a developer or an organization stops providing technical support and issuing security patches and updates for a bit of software or hardware. 

If we wish to discuss how long a bit of hardware is nice for, it could heavily rely upon the upkeep and general usage of said hardware and will range anywhere between three and eight years. 

However, software must be updated repeatedly, and you’ll be able to expect your software to be patched several times during a yr. A software’s life cycle may also be quite long. 

A software’s life cycle begins when the software is produced and ends once the software isn’t supported nor updated by the developer or software company that created it. Once the software reaches this point and isn’t any longer patched, it is taken into account EOL and has finished its product life cycle.

Let’s take a look at the life cycles of some legacy software which might be still popular and widely used despite reaching their EOL. All the below Windows examples now not receive security and non-security updates or patches. 

• Windows 7 operating system (OS) was released on October 22, 2009. It was extremely popular and had widespread use across many devices until recently. It reached EOL on January 14, 2020. Its life cycle lasted for greater than ten years. 
• Windows Server 2008 was released on February 4, 2008 and stopped receiving updates and support on January 14, 2020. Its life cycle lasted for 12 years.
• Microsoft Office 2010 was released on June 15, 2010 and reached its EOL a decade in a while October 13, 2020. This product’s life cycle was also a decade long.

Software life cycles normally last for around a decade or longer, especially when talking about popular software similar to Windows operating systems and programs.

There are various serious risks you’re taking through the use of EOL software:

For those who keep using EOL software, you’re risking being hacked since latest security patches usually are not issued. If some hacker finds a strategy to exploit a specific vulnerability in your OS, and the software developer isn’t issuing security patches, that vulnerability will remain open for the hacker to make use of. You is not going to receive the treatment to patch the OS. 

Simply because an EOL software keeps working after the brand new official version has been released doesn’t mean it is best to proceed to make use of it. 

Updating to a new edition might imply lots of extra work to have full integration, however it’s definitely less work than attempting to salvage your hacked data.

For those who’re not using the most recent official release of a specific piece of software, it means you usually are not utilizing its latest features. For those who are stuck using an old product, you just won’t give you the chance to supply your customers with the extent of quality they require. 

What you are promoting cannot compete with competitors using the most recent release to scale their infrastructure and onboard latest clients faster than you.

An EOL software dependency can immobilize you from moving to a more moderen, more modern infrastructure.  

Yes, your team has put in lots of effort to configure a specific software to work. It wasn’t easy to get your configuration to the purpose it’s today. But as your web sites, applications, or workloads require faster speeds or integration with other modern platforms, you’ll start hitting speed bumps and roadblocks. 

Some amazing modern cloud solutions is likely to be an ideal fit for what you are promoting, but your legacy software or hardware is probably not compatible or integrate well, rendering it completely unusable for you.

For those who try to support legacy software that’s been discontinued and is now unsupported, you’ll have a troublesome time providing your customers with quality service. Besides that, it’s crucial you will have the needed knowledge to support your clients. If your organization relies on an old version of the software, likelihood is there won’t be a lot of those around that know the way it really works. Supporting your customers will only get harder when you lose that one individual that knows how the code works.

Some people still are likely to use EOL software to avoid the effort of upgrading to a brand new release. 

Examples of EOL software you’ll be able to still see commonly in use are Windows 7 and Windows Server 2008 operating systems that were popular for a few years and are actually outdated. 

CentOS 6 is an example of a Linux operating system that reached EOL in late 2020 but remains to be prevalent amongst many private servers. 

You would possibly have upgraded from these old operating systems and are all set with a brand new, supported release, however the software you’re using on that modern OS is likely to be outdated. 

Common eCommerce EOL solutions include platforms similar to Magento 1 or WordPress. Nonetheless, any version of WordPress that’s older than 4.9 is now unsupported, and it is best to consider upgrading to a brand new release when you are still using it.  

Normally, it would be best to consider updating to a new edition of software relatively than finding a strategy to keep the old version running. Nonetheless, you’ll be able to still secure your EOL software if mandatory by: 

A great example of prolonged support is Microsoft’s ESU (Prolonged Security Updates) which you can purchase and use to patch your aging operating system. This provides your OS with an upgraded level of security. In case your entire business relies on running an old operating system or another sort of software, ESU is likely to be a great temporary solution. 

You would possibly consider moving the software you’re using for what you are promoting to a private cloud environment, providing additional layers of security. An isolated environment won’t expose you to getting hacked easily, and your outdated software can run without issues.

VMware is a frontrunner in cloud infrastructure and offers multiple products, solutions, and resources related to cloud computing. One in all them is private cloud – a cloud computing model where the architecture is devoted to a single user organization. In case your application requires EOL software to operate, the private cloud might be an optimal solution to maintain what you are promoting secure and productive without re-architecting your codebase.

With Liquid Web’s Managed VMware Private Cloud product, you get cloud performance on a quick, secure enterprise infrastructure powered by VMware and NetApp. Private cloud serves as your personal virtual data center, which suggests you’re in complete control of your hosting environment. With predictable pricing, it’ll give what you are promoting power, performance, and reliability of an industry-leading enterprise solution.