This page is to explain how update rings work for Sentrian’s Rapid Application Management and Patching (RAMP) service works. To read more about what this service is and how it can help your business stay secure, please read here: RAMP – What is Sentrian RAMP?
What Are Update Rings?
Update rings are a way to stagger the release of application updates to different groups of users, allowing us to test updates before rolling them out to the entire organisation. This way, if an update causes issues, it will only affect a small group of users instead of the entire organisation.
We have three levels of update rings available:
Fast: These users get updates as soon as they’re available. They’re the most likely to have issues, so we ask them to let us know right away if something goes wrong. Typically, these users will receive updates within 24 hours of them being released.
Normal: These users get updates after users in the fast ring have made sure they’re working well. This is the best choice for most people. Typically, these users will receive updates within 72 hours of them being released.
Slow: These users wait to get updates until we’re extra sure they’re working well. This is good for people whose work is very important and can’t be interrupted. Typically, these users will receive updates within 1 week of them being released.
How Can I Request Update Rings be Rolled Out?
When rolling out RAMP we will request that you nominate users to be in the fast and slow update rings, will all other users being in the normal ring. However, you can opt in or change the ring group memberships at any point in time by submitting a service ticket to our team.
What happens when an update has an issue?
In the event of an issue arising after an update, Sentrian will halt the rollout to prevent further distribution. Our team will evaluate the problem and determine if rolling back the update or making adjustments to the configuration is necessary for the update to be deployed successfully.
What about critical security updates?
In some cases, updates are deemed critically important for the security of your business and must be deployed immediately. In these cases, update rings will be bypassed and the update will be pushed to all users. This is typically only necessary for applications that have a high likelihood of interacting with files from external sources, such as browsers and PDF readers.