(Jul 31) Several vulnerabilities have been discovered in the interpreter for the Ruby language, which may result in incorrect processing of HTTP/FTP, directory traversal, command injection, unintended socket creation or information disclosure.
So your developer’s building a website for you and says it’s now time to move things from a testing environment to a staging environment. You nod and smile. What does it all mean? Here’s the breakdown of a staging environment vs test environment.
What’s a testing environment?
A testing environment involves creating a space that lets you to perform test executions of your component parts. So the test environment includes both the software and hardware you’re running it on. Your testing environment is therefore very specific. And not one-size-fits-all.
It’s something you have created and developed to test a certain function in a specific way. Every app or component you develop has fundamental requirements which need to be put to the test. Hence, with a testing environment, it’s your component under test that dictates the environment. And not the other way around.
What’s a staging environment?
Your staging environment is a setup that replicates your production environment. In short, it’s an identical replica of your product. You shouldn’t be able to tell find any differences between your staging environment and your final product. But unlike your final product, it’s not for public domain.
Think of it as a safe space where you can throw everything together and find out how it works. It’s the ultimate Quality Assurance test because it’s as close to the real thing as you can get.
If they’re both for testing, what are the differences?
The difference is found in the specificity and scale of the tests we do in the staging environment vs test environment. Both are about finding an end result. But it’s a different type of end result.
Your testing environment will likely have nothing to do with your final product. The end result here is very specific. Does component X fulfill its role? So, it’s about putting on the goggles and the white jacket, and getting down in the lab. It’s a controlled environment. No variables. One bit at a time. What’s this one thing supposed to do? And does it do it right?
So when it comes to staging environment vs test environment, your staging environment is more like real world testing. Without any of the dangers. You can keep control and privacy, while testing the whole thing together. Does each part work in harmony to produce the overall end result you’re hoping for?
Why do you need both a staging and test environment?
We can probably forgive you for thinking that if each part does its job, there’s no reason it won’t work when all put together. But unfortunately, things don’t work out like that in reality. It’s like building a race car where the factory is the test environment.
First, you might test the body in a wind tunnel for aerodynamic efficiency. Then the engine outside the car to make sure it works. After, the brake lines to see that when you hit the brake pedal, it engages. So you know all the parts work fine individually in a test environment.
Confidently, you put it all together and take it for a test drive. Not straight in a race though, but on a controlled race track (staging environment), where you can put it through its paces. You accelerate smoothly until you reach the end of the line and hit the brakes.
Because you don’t stop in time and go skidding off into the gravel. How did this happen? You tested the brakes? Why didn’t the car stop in time?
Although you tested them independently, you didn’t test for such a big load, because you can’t anticipate everything. So with everything put together, you’ve discovered the engine and aerodynamic setup helped you develop more speed than you predicted. You didn’t expect that it would all end up being too powerful for one of your components to handle.
Staging environment vs test environment – different for good reason
To ensure your product performs exactly how you expect it to in the real world, you need both a testing and staging environment. The testing environment helps you ensure that each component does its job. Meanwhile, the staging environment makes sure each component still does its job with everything else going on around it. Both will help stop you from skidding off the right track. Learn more about the staging environment you can have in the Plesk WP Toolkit.
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With WordPress 5.0 coming closer, there’s lots of work going on all across the project. Read on to learn about how we progressed in July.
Release of WordPress 4.9.7
On July 5, WordPress 4.9.7 was released, fixing one security issue and 17 other bugs across the platform.
While this is a minor release, incremental fixes are essential to keep WordPress running smoothly. Everyone is encouraged to update as soon as possible and to make sure that automatic updates are switched on.
Would you like to get involved in building WordPress Core? Follow the Core team blog and join the #core channel in the Making WordPress Slack group.
The New WordPress Editor
In the upcoming minor release of WordPress, 4.9.8, a new section in the dashboard will feature Gutenberg, the upcoming content editor for WordPress.
While the official release of Gutenberg is scheduled for the coming months, you can already install it as a plugin to test it out right now. Additionally, a brand new demo page is now available — play around with the many features the editor has to offer, without installing it on your own site.
Would you like to help build or test Gutenberg? Follow the Core team blog and join the #core-editor channel in the Making WordPress Slack group.
Page Design Updates on WordPress.org
Bit by bit we’re refreshing the design of WordPress.org. The latest pages to get a new treatment have been the Download page and user profiles.
The Meta and Design teams worked hard to make these new designs a reality, with notable contributions from @melchoyce, @obenland, @mapk, and @kjellr. The new designs enhance the overall look of the site and provide more relevant information to those searching.
Would you like to get involved in the design refresh? Follow the Meta and Design team blogs and join the #meta and #design channels in the Making WordPress Slack group.
The First WP-CLI Hack Day
On Friday July 20, the WP-CLI team held their first hack day — a global event encouraging people to contribute to the official command line tool for WordPress.
Run by @schlessera, the event was a great success. Twelve pull requests were merged and another 13 submitted. It also included a video chat to give all contributors a space to meet each other and connect directly.
Would you like to get involved in contributing to WP-CLI? Follow the team blog and join the #cli channel in the Making WordPress Slack group.
Further Reading:
- The WordPress Foundation is looking for local community organizers to run introductory open-source workshops in 2018.
- @chanthaboune compiled updates for the last quarter from the contribution teams all across the WordPress project.
- In a great move for internationalization, the WordPress Mobile Apps now support right-to-left languages.
- WordCamp events can now accept payment via Stripe — PayPal remains an alternative option.
- The WP-CLI team will soon release v2.0 of the official WordPress command line tool.
- The Fields API project in WordPress Core is looking for a new lead to drive it forward.
- In WordPress 4.9.8, it will be possible for developers to fully register the meta fields used by their plugins and themes.
- After many years of hard work, v1.0.0 of the WordPress Coding Standards for PHP_CodeSniffer has been released.
- The Mobile team is looking for people to help test v10.6 of WordPress for iOS.
If you have a story we should consider including in the next “Month in WordPress” post, please submit it here.
The annual cPanel Conference is headed home to vibrant Houston, TX! Attracting attendees from around the globe, you will get an exclusive opportunity for personal development, intense learning, and the best networking events in the industry. While we believe that there are countless reasons why you should attend the cPanel Annual Conference, we’ve managed to narrow it down to five. Hear from the experts Our speakers are …
This month’s web hosting news starts with reports of a potential IPO for the UK’s fastest-growing hosting provider, Google. They’re collaborating with GitHub and other tech giants on new projects. Moreover, Alibaba is strengthening their cloud footprint in Asia by investing in further infrastructure in Malaysia. Check it out.
Google, Microsoft, Twitter, Facebook collaborate on Data Transfer Project
The software and internet giants are working hand-in-hand on a new initiative called the Data Transfer Project. This’ll enable users to transfer data between online platforms more conveniently. Because this eliminates the need to download and re-upload info. We like this.
The Data Transfer Project will improve on existing data export tools already available. And they do this by implementing adapters that allow a wider range of content to move across different service providers.
We think one important bit though is ensuring data security and privacy when using adapters. But according to Google, users will have to authenticate each account they own independently before transferring data. Data will also be encrypted both ways using a unique key that we generate for each transfer. So all good there.
Alibaba Cloud launches new availability zone in Malaysia
Alibaba Cloud has expanded their cloud footprint by launching a second availability zone in Malaysia. This move will allow the company to improve its cloud capacity. Thus, providing better cloud computing service that copes with the increased demand by users in the region. Makes sense.
They plan to invest further in Malaysia by opening their first anti-DDoS scrubbing center in August. “The launch of our Availability Zone B and Anti-DDoS Scrubbing Center will enable us to offer even greater security and choice for our customers,” said Kenny Tan, Malaysia General Manager at Alibaba Cloud.
Google integrates new CI/CD platform with GitHub
So Google announced they’re working closely with GitHub to integrate Cloud Build on its platform during Google Cloud Next 2018. Cloud Build is a continuous integration and continuous delivery (CI/CD) platform that lets developers build and test apps in the cloud. Plus, they can scale them quickly. How do we feel about this, guys?
Jason Warner, SVP of Technology at GitHub said “The ability to use Cloud Build for CI as a part of the GitHub workflow is just the start of this partnership and we look forward to building more in the future with Google.” This integration also allows developers to push directly to Google App Engine and other services, as well as gain a lot of useful data about their builds from within GitHub.
Hosting provider UKFast considering IPO, experts value company at £350M+
UKFast picked GCA Altium, global investment bank, to review their growth options with an IPO. We hear experts estimate it to be worth over £350M.
Did you know it’s a family-owned hosting company, based in Manchester, that employs just around 450 people? But reports indicate that UKFast registered organic growth of 18% in 2017. Thus, making it one of the fastest-growing hosting providers in the UK. So ones to watch for sure.
“UKFast is now at a stage where it has strong brand equity and our products have evolved to be truly world class. Last year’s 18% growth demonstrates that we’re continuing to innovate and that we’ve got something special here,” said Lawrence Jones, CEO.
Last year, UKFast bought public sector cloud and security firm – Secure-IA. And even more recently, the company announced the launch of new subsidiary led ClearCloud. This aims to broaden their multi-cloud offering to their base of 5,000 clients. Not bad, right?
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