Info Appreciated | Memcached Version

Hello @generosus,

Thank you for your question. The version of the service can be located through telnet after logging into the hosting account via SSH. The current major stable release on the servers is 1.6.9.

$ telnet 127.0.0.1 11211
Trying 127.0.0.1…
Connected to 127.0.0.1.
Escape character is '^]'.
version
VERSION 1.6.9

However, as it is with almost all software installations on our servers, we keep a stable version which is compatible with most applications – both new and older, but the code is further patched by our security and administrator teams with the latest security patches and releases. This makes the software both widely compatible, but also up to date with the latest code release of the software as of today.

Regards,
Plamen.M
Tech Support Team
SiteGround.com

Hi @plamenm,

Thank you for the quick reply and tip.

Questions:

1. Since this is a new topic, can you kindly ask your developers to add SiteGround’s Memcached Server Version to Site Tools? (and this plugin, when Memcached is activated)
   Note: Not everyone is adept at querying servers using Telnet nor it is a convenient path for non-developers.
2. It appears SiteGround is using a VERY OLD stable version of Memcached (Version 1.6.9, Dated November 20, 2020). Since our website slows down when we use SiteGround’s current version of Memcached, when can we expect to see SiteGround load the latest, stable version of Memcached? (currently, Version 1.6.28, Dated May 31, 2024)

Customizing Memcached is understandable, but you guys still need to load the latest, stable version (and customize it, if necessary). SiteGround is almost four years behind the latest, stable Memcached version.

Meanwhile, we have found alternate means to track SiteGround’s Memcached Server Version.

Thank you!

——

References:

https://memcached.org/
https://github.com/memcached/memcached/wiki/ReleaseNotes

Our years of experience hosting millions of sites and thousands of different applications had proven that latest versions are a good approach only in a closed, testing environment. In a hosting environment which needs to provide both stability and compatibility with older code, latest versions more often cause problems for the site owners. At the same time, keeping a version which is widely compatible both with new and older code, but is patched to the latest patch levels, is the best approach for both directions and all involved parties. In short, do not look at the software version. It is kept at an older version on purpose – for compatibility reasons. However, the actual code of the service is up to date.

In this regard, if you have any particular real life use case scenario where a piece of code that you are using is not compatible with the reported version of the service, please post a support ticket, so that we can check the case and the relative server logs in details.

Thank you.

Regards,
Plamen.M
Tech Support Team
SiteGround.com

• This reply was modified 5 months, 1 week ago by Plamen M.

Hi @plamenm,

Respectfully, disagree with your statement:

In short, do not look at the software version. It is kept at an older version on purpose – for compatibility reasons. However, the actual code of the service is up to date.

The latest software version DOES MATTER. SiteGround can always load the latest, stable version — with proper patches applied — to suit SiteGround’s environment. Unless, of course, SiteGround is using older hardware/firmware.

One more thing …

Enhancement Request:

It would be great if — like many other plugins or themes — SiteGround could add a “Server Environment” section to your plugin’s section, Enviroment. The “Server Environment” section — in addition to including the information noted here — it can also include SiteGround’s Memcached Server Version information.

Thank you!

Thank you for the recommendation. I will include it as a suggestion to our Site Tools developers.

As for the software version. The reason why we choose to step on older stable releases and patch and enhance them with the latest code patches is not our hardware, but older client applications, which, if they “see” memcached version 1.6.28 would fail to work and effectively get the entire site down. On the other hand, both old and new software code is proven to work great with version 1.6.9 of memcached.

I hope this brings more clarity to the reason why we choose this approach to the software versions on our servers.

Regards,
Plamen.M
Tech Support Team
SiteGround.com

Hi @plamenm,

Thanks for the info. Again, respectfully disagree with SitGround’s reply. Using the latest, stable version of software is the right thing to do. Laggers should not be running the show.

Have a great week!