Welcome to Continuity Engine 16 - What's New

Welcome to Continuity Engine 16 - What's New

Continuity Engine 16

This release supersedes Continuity Engine v15.

What's New

EMS Alerting based on Managed Server Telemetry

  1. The first chapter in unlocking advanced monitoring and alerting is to enable our new telemetry service, which will seamlessly extract relevant information about events happening on the Engine nodes.
  2. v16 adds more to this feature by unlocking the possibility of uploading-via-EMS the telemetry data  data for a deployment not managed via Engine Management Service. 
  3. By enabling telemetry, you empower the EMS to deliver better monitoring and alerting for critical events that matter most to your business. This will translate into quicker response times, more accurate alerts, and ultimately, greater peace of mind knowing that your systems are running optimally.

Replication of Files with Extended Attributes

  1. Engine v16 enables by default the replication of files with extended attributes.
  2. This change in behavior is automatically applied when upgrading Engine to v16. 

Better User Experience

EMS API documentation

  1. v16 brings end-user enablement for documenting and usage of Engine APIs. 
  2. Frequently used APIs as well as the Procedure for enabling, capturing and viewing (Swagger) EMS API documentation are detailed in Engine Management Service API.

Systray App Enhancements

  1. Changed About Engine dialog to our show latest status icon, HBSIG, FQDN. 
  2. Users can retrieve (copy/paste) the FQDN and HBSIG directly from About Engine dialog.
  3. Replaced Archive logs option with the option to Collect logs.

Offline Licensing Management via EMS

  1. Self-service offline licensing: customers may claim license keys directly from Engine Management Service for deployments which are not managed via EMS.
  2. Install Engine Management Service on any supported Windows machine with access to internet (i.e. Engine Licensing Server) then claim your license keys corresponding to your purchased software subscription from the Support section. Details in Self-Service Offline Licensing: How to Claim a License Key for a Deployment Not Managed via Engine Management Service.

New Version Availability and Download Published via EMS

Available Plugins Visibility Update

  1. Bundled plugins list is linked directly from Engine Management Service UI support section. Engine plugin offers out-of-the-box automated protection for client applications (specific versions). 

    Patching Downtime Reduction with Passive Management Name

    1. Continuity Engine's Passive Management Name feature enables the ability of patching of standby passive nodes in centralized update management environment.
    2. Following document lists all the Patch Management or Backup Software Solutions / Technologies proven to work or scheduled in the near future for interoping validation with Continuity Engine's Passive Management Name feature: Patch Management Solutions / Technologies supported by Continuity Engine's Passive Management Name

    OPSWAT MetaDefender Managed File Transfer Plugin v201.5.1

    1. OPSWAT MetaDefender Managed File Transfer Plugin provides protection and proactively monitors MetaDefender MFT environment’s configuration data, services, and application data files.
    2. Support for OPSWAT MetaDefender Managed File Transfer v3.6.x, 3.7.x., cloned or independent-identity architecture.

    Clever Devices CleverCAD Plugin v201.5.3

    1. Clever Devices CleverCAD Plugin protects and proactively monitors Clever Devices CleverCAD v9.9 and v10.x environments.
    2. Plugin defined tasks for enable/disable CleverDevices_CADStore scheduled task depending if active or passive node.

    Access to Continuity Engine Utilities Repo

    1. Access Continuity Engine collection of utility scripts and add-ons designed to extend core features
    2. Collaborate for enhancing and extending Continuity Engine functionality for specific scenarios 
    3. Utilities repo may be accessed directly from EMS UI> Support> Add-ons

    Snapshot Management Improvements

    Ransomware Recovery: With Snapshot Management organizations can take snapshots each 15 minutes and roll back the dataset to before the incident happened thus restoring the protected application server to full operating conditions.
    1. How to Use Continuity Engine For Ransomware Mitigation
    2. How to Setup Snapshot Management for Neverfail Continuity Engine

    CLI Installer v3 

    Engine command-line installer was improved in version bundled with CE16:
    1. Engine WFP packet filtering preferences are preserved across upgrade.
    2. Extended Attributes replication preferences are being transformed across upgrade, so that files having this features are replicated and kept syncronized by default.   
    Notes
    Engine command-line installer (CLI) may be used for installing, upgrading or uninstalling Continuity Engine on a specific node. 
    It was designed to be used in the scenarios where EMS-driven fully automated install/upgrade cannot be used. Contact Support for guidance.

    CLI Service Manager v1 

    1. Engine command-lineservice manager for starting/stopping Engine protected services (with or without dependencies).
    2. Designed as a standalone helper-tool to be used in case of server maintenance/recovery when user wants to start stop protected services and Engine service is stopped.

    More Secure

    OpenJDK and Apache Tomcat version updated to latest

    HSTS Enablement

    New Supported Versions

    New or Updated Plugins

    1. Clever Devices CleverCAD Plugin: protection for Clever Devices CleverCAD v9.9 and v10.xx
    2. OPSWAT MetaDefender Managed File Transfer Plugin: support for MD MFT 3.6.x, 3.7.x. deployed in cloned or independent identity architecture

    VMware vCenter Server and VMware vCenter Converter Support

    1. Supported - Engine Management Service API Support for deployment using the latest versions of VMware vCenter Server 7.0 and VMware vCenter Converter 6.2.
    2. Supported - vSphere Integration Plugin Support for interoping with the latest versions of VMware vCenter Server 7.0
    3. Coming soon - Engine Management Service API Support for deployment using the latest versions of VMware vCenter Server 8.0 and VMware vCenter Converter 6.3.
    4. Coming soon - vSphere Integration Plugin Support for interoping with the latest versions of VMware vCenter Server 8.0

    Licensing Updates 

    Software Subscription Cancelation

    1. End-User License-Subscription Agrement changes are summarized in the below section extracted from Neverfail End-User Software Subscription License Agreement.
    Notes
    Automatic Software Subscription Cancelation. Neverfail reserves the right to automatically cancel any Software Subscription if the Subscriber does not pay for either a monthly or a yearly subscription renewal for it within maximum 6 months past the Software Subscription’s end date. A Canceled Software Subscription is considered end of life, hence will not allow to be reactivated, renewed, or extended. If the subscriber will later want to continue the software usage, a new Software Subscription must be purchased to re-enable the subscriber with the Right of Use for the Licensed Software.

    Software Subscription Payment Awareness Improvements

    1. Improved in v16.0, the software subscription licensing mechanism is changed to be aware of software subscription's payment status. The changes are summarized in the below section extracted from Neverfail End-User Software Subscription License Agreement.
    NotesTerm Software Subscription is ready to be consumed immediately upon fulfilment. Depending on the payment status, the right to use may or may not be limited a follows: (a) if the payment is pending when software subscription is being activated (consumed), a limited forty-five (45) days license key counted from the term software subscription start date will be generated; as soon as the payment is confirmed, the full term software subscription period is unlocked; relicensing with a full term license key will be performed automatically for online licensing; (b) if the payment is confirmed when software subscription is being activated (consumed) a full term license key will be generated. Similar payment status usability rules apply also in the case of license term software subscription renewal.
    1. v16.0 licensing model is built on top of v9.0 model which transitioned Engine from a perpetual model to a software subscription term and rental model. Engine Licensing Service (ELS) enables call-home features that power our software subscription based licensing. The new cloud service is free but is required for Term and Rental deployments.  For more information on how the licensing works and upgrade notes please read Continuity Engine Licensing Model. 

    Backward Compatibility

    Continuity Engine 16 Management Service is compatible with older versions (i.e. EMS 16.0 manages correctly CE 12/13/14/15). 

    1. If I upgrade to Continuity Engine 16, will my perpetual license cease? Yes! You are accepting software subscription's  requirements outlined in the new EULA for Term and Rental. Neverfail will generate new software subscriptions expiring the same day as the support was paid through. This means you will need to pay for support to continue software operations yearly or monthly depending on the type of subscription.
    1. Can I upgrade using the Upgrade Wizard from older versions to Continuity Engine 16? Yes, the upgrade wizard is still supported. Keep in mind that Continuity Engine versions 6.7, 7.x, 8.x, 9.x, 10, 11 are currently End-of-Life (EOL). To ensure organization continued support, you must upgrade to the latest Continuity Engine version.
    2. When will Continuity Engine EOL? Check End of Life Policy for Neverfail Continuity Engine

    3. Can I stay on previous versions of Continuity Engine? Yes, however, previous versions will eventually EOL and you will not be able to take full advantage of the new features of Continuity Engine v14. And evenly important, your systems will be more exposed to cyberattacks. For example:

    4. Warning
      1. CEv11.0
        1. misses all the Java OpenJDK security fixes released between July 2023 (8u382-b05) and October 2024 (8u432-b06).
        2. misses all the Apache Tomcat security fixes released between April 2023 (Tomcat 9.0.74) and October 2024 (9.0.97).

    Applies To

    Continuity Engine v16


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