Server & Hosting
Tech News
10 years of server and web hosting news — Linux releases, security vulnerabilities, control panel updates, PHP releases and web server news from 2016 to 2025.
Spectre and Meltdown — Impact on Linux Servers
The Spectre and Meltdown CPU vulnerabilities affect virtually every server — here's what Linux administrators need to know and do immediately.
PHP 7.2 Released — Sodium Cryptography Built In
PHP 7.2 ships with the Sodium cryptography library built-in, making modern encryption accessible to all PHP developers without extensions.
MariaDB 10.2 Released — Window Functions Support
MariaDB 10.2 introduces SQL window functions, recursive CTEs and CHECK constraints — closing the gap with PostgreSQL for analytics workloads.
CentOS 7.4 Released — Kernel and Security Updates
CentOS 7.4 ships with kernel 3.10.0-693, improved memory management and support for the latest hardware — recommended for all production servers.
Amazon AWS Launches Lightsail VPS to Compete with DigitalOcean
Amazon launches Lightsail — a simplified VPS product aimed directly at DigitalOcean and Linode with predictable pricing and easy management.
PHP 7.1.9 Security Release — Update Now
PHP 7.1.9 patches a use-after-free vulnerability in garbage collection and several other security issues — all PHP servers should update.
Nginx Plus R13 Released — Advanced Load Balancing
Nginx Plus R13 introduces dynamic upstreams, improved health checks and NTLM authentication support for enterprise deployments.
Let's Encrypt Issues 100 Millionth Certificate
Let's Encrypt reaches the milestone of 100 million certificates issued — HTTPS adoption has never been higher thanks to free automated certificates.
Apache HTTP Server 2.4.26 Security Release
Apache HTTP Server 2.4.26 patches multiple security vulnerabilities including a mod_auth_digest buffer overflow — update immediately.
WordPress 4.7 REST API — New Opportunities for Developers
WordPress 4.7 ships with the REST API fully integrated — enabling headless WordPress deployments and new application architectures.
WannaCry Ransomware — How to Protect Your Linux Server
The WannaCry ransomware attack infected 200,000+ Windows systems worldwide — while Linux was largely unaffected, the attack highlights server security fundamentals.
Cloudflare Announces Keyless SSL for Enterprise
Cloudflare's Keyless SSL allows enterprises to use Cloudflare's CDN without ever sharing their private SSL keys — a major security advancement.
Red Hat Enterprise Linux 7.3 — New Security Features
RHEL 7.3 introduces OpenSCAP security compliance scanning, improved LDAP integration and technology preview of StratiS storage management.
CentOS 7.3 Released — Security and Performance Updates
CentOS 7.3 arrives with kernel 3.10.0-514, improved storage drivers and over 800 bug fixes — a significant update for production servers.
MariaDB 10.1 GA — Galera Cluster Built In
MariaDB 10.1 reaches GA with Galera Cluster built-in by default — high availability clustering without additional software.
Mirai Botnet DDoS Attack Takes Down Dyn DNS — Lessons Learned
The Mirai botnet attack on Dyn DNS took down Twitter, Netflix and Reddit — a wake-up call about IoT security and DNS infrastructure resilience.
DigitalOcean Launches Block Storage for Droplets
DigitalOcean introduces persistent block storage volumes for Droplets — independently scalable storage that survives droplet deletion.
Nginx 1.11 Mainline Released — HTTP/2 Server Push Support
Nginx 1.11 mainline introduces HTTP/2 server push support, allowing servers to proactively send resources to clients before they are requested.
OpenSSL Critical Vulnerability CVE-2016-2107 Patched — Update Now
OpenSSL patches a critical padding oracle vulnerability that could allow decryption of HTTPS traffic — all server administrators should update immediately.
WordPress 4.5 Released — New Features for Server Admins
WordPress 4.5 introduces responsive preview in admin, new JavaScript APIs and improved performance — what server admins need to prepare.