Releases
Each release of the Spec platform includes the latest security patches and stable features that have successfully passed internal testing and quality assurance procedures. Releases are broken into two types of upgrades: minor and major.
Minor Upgrades
Any platform change that does not interrupt or inhibit the flow of traffic. Realtime Engine, Spec Hub, security patch, or other upgrade that does not require action.
Potential Impact
Negligible to none: Updates are generally no impact, but if a rare exception is detected, the update is immediately and automatically rolled back to the last stable version.
Examples
- Realtime Engine security patches are applied to address vulnerabilities and improve system stability.
- Stable release features are now available for general use.
- Resource limits have been increased to support higher workloads and improve performance.
Frequency
Often, 2-3 times per week.
Communication
These updates are available in our weekly release notes, updated documentation pages, or via preferred contact method.
Scheduling
These updates are vital to providing the best security posture and remain at the discretion of Spec.
Major Upgrades
A platform change that requires Spec to briefly pause processing data from the Realtime Engine, or requires an update from the client.
Potential Impact
Medium to none: May require client intervention to make configuration changes or require a maintenance window. Any potential impact will be communicated to the client prior to the update.
Examples
- A major database version update or other significant data migration will be performed to ensure system compatibility and performance.
- A service worker version update will be deployed to introduce improvements and maintain optimal functionality.
Frequency
- Rare, ~1 per year.
Communication
A Spec representative will proactively contact you ahead of any major upgrades to arrange an off peak hours time to perform the update.
Maintenance Windows
A major upgrade may require a brief window of-out-of-line maintenance. This window will be communicated with your team in advance, and in most cases the upgrades are a no-op.
Spec may remove the Realtime Engine from the network topology briefly to perform major upgrades. This is done via DNS and Spec managed service worker, but may vary depending on integration type.
tip
To disable the Realtime Engine from the worker, it is possible to set
disableSpecProxy = true in the service worker configuration.
During this time, active mitigations and data collection will be offline.
note
If operating without active mitigations is not an option, Spec can forward to any internal maintenance page to temporarily pause normal site activity during the duration of the major update.
Release FAQ
When does Spec conduct releases?
Stable release features are deployed into staging and non-production environments weekly on Tuesday mornings, allowing for pre-production validation.
Production stable release features are deployed between Wednesday and Thursday. Security patches may be deployed more frequently.
Where can I get release notes?
Release notes for each deployment are compiled and distributed by your Spec representative upon request.
How does Spec handle zero downtime?
The release process for the Realtime Engine maintains zero downtime and operates transparently to end users. Each deployment provisions a fresh set of instances to replace the previous version. Before accepting production traffic, the platform conducts a series of automated tests to confirm successful initialization and core functionality. Once all validations pass, the new instances are integrated into the request handling pool as the old ones are drained and phased out.
How are releases monitored?
Automated monitoring and alerting systems verify the health and readiness of individual use case configurations of the Realtime Engine prior to promotion into the production environment.