Standard Term Support (STS) Releases
nShield STS software releases are releases that introduce new features/products on a stable LTS baseline. Unlike LTS releases, STS releases will not have a regular update schedule. Any updates will be provided by a future STS release or rolled into a LTS release. Only support and patches are provided for approximately nine (9) months after STS support begins.
These releases provide customers access to specific features or functionality that will be rolled into a future LTS release where it will then receive the long-term support.
STS Release Cadence
STS releases are released as and when required to introduce new functionality and features. STS releases will be released alongside a supported LTS release and customers are only recommended to use the STS release in favor of the active LTS release if they require the new functionality and features. A future LTS release will be made that contains the STS release functionality in the future.
STS Release Phases
nShield STS releases go through different stages in their lifecycle as detailed below.
Standard-Term (STS) Support
This is the main phase of the STS release where the release is in full support. Customers are provided with release support and hotfixes to fix any issues found.
End of Life (EOL)
End of life refers to the date when the release reaches the end of lifecycle and stops receiving fixes, updates. End of life may also be referred to as 'end of support' (EOS).
As the end-of-life approaches for a Security World release, we recommend that you move to a newer Security World version. STS releases will always overlap support phases with a newer LTS release to ensure continued support is available during the transition. After support ends, we recommend that customers adopt a supported version of Security World.