Sitecore releases 6.3.1 (rev. 110112)

Today, Sitecore has released 6.3.1 (rev. 110112), our 4th update for CMS 6.3.

Sitecore 6.3.1 is a regular maintenance update. The version number has been changed from 6.3.0 to 6.3.1 because of some database schema changes in the EventQueue table.

Highlights in this update:

• The most imporant set of fixes and improvements in this update are related to scaling and multi-instance setups (backported from 6.4.1)
• Also, this update contains a number of fixes and improvements that were released in 6.2 Update-5 (and which were already merged to 6.4 as part of 6.4.0 Update-1). In other words, all CMS 6.2 updates have now fully been merged to 6.3, including the fixes and improvements to Lucene search.

As always, there's a number of additional fixes and improvements in this update, so be sure to check out the full release notes.

Everything is already available on SDN, including:

• The release notes which describes the improvements and fixes in this update
• The update page which contains download links for the full distribution, as well as instructions for updating existing Sitecore solutions to 6.3.1

Updated Scaling Guide
As previously mentioned, we published a new version of the Scaling Guide for CMS 6.3 and 6.4 earlier this month.

If you're planning to implement multi-server setups with Sitecore CMS 6.3 or 6.4, you should make sure to grab a copy of the revised documentation:
http://sdn.sitecore.net/Reference/Sitecore%206/Scaling%20Guide.aspx

SQL Server Replication
And to repeat myself some more: If you are setting up SQL Server Replication, make sure that to check out the updated version of the SQL Server Replication Guide which was published when 6.4.1 was released:
http://sdn.sitecore.net/Reference/Sitecore%206/SQL%20Server%20Replication%20Guide.aspx

The updated documentation contains instructions for configuring SQL Server replication to replicate data in the EventQueue table after data from other tables (it's a simple step, but quite important).

Updated Scaling Guide for 6.3 and 6.4 available on SDN

Today, we have published a new version of the Scaling Guide for Sitecore CMS 6.3 and 6.4:
http://sdn.sitecore.net/Reference/Sitecore%206/Scaling%20Guide.aspx

The Scaling Guide contains a lot of new information, and we've given the guide a complete overhaul to make it easier to get an overview of the typical scenario for scaling Content Management and Content Delivery environments, as well as describing various alternative scenarios and options to consider.

So if you're planning to implement multi-server setups with Sitecore CMS 6.3 or 6.4, you should make sure to grab a copy of the new guide.

Using non-recommended releases in production environment

When I posted my note about the release of 6.4.1 yesterday, an interesting question was posted as a comment:

When to expect a 6.4.x recommended version (now 6.2) to use for production environments?

And the answer is easy: You don't have to wait for 6.4 to become recommended before using it in a production environment.

As we write on the Versioning Policy page on SDN:

Sitecore fully supports every new release including those that aren’t recommended versions.
Before you decide which version of Sitecore you should use on a new production environment, you should investigate the later, non-recommended versions. If there is a later version that contains some new features that your website requires or resolves some known issues that might affect your website, it makes very good sense to install that version.

Summmary
1) Sitecore fully supports new releases, including CMS 6.4
2) It's appropriate to go live on a non-recommended version/update if it contains features that your website requires or if if resolves some known issues hat might affect your website.

But if you are in doubt, then we recommend that you discuss this with your Sitecore partner before making a decision.

Sitecore releases 6.4.1 (rev. 101221)

Today, Sitecore has released 6.4.1 (rev. 101221), our second update for CMS 6.4.

Sitecore 6.4.1 is a regular maintenance update. The version number has been changed from 6.4.0 to 6.4.1 because of some database schema changes in the EventQueue table.

The update contains a bunch of nice fixes and improvements in several areas of the product, including

• Scaling and multi-instance setups
• Multi-browser support
• The Page Editor
• The Rich Text Editor

But check out the full release notes - there's a ton of good stuff in this update.

Everything is already available on SDN, including:

• The release notes which describes the improvements and fixes in this update
• The update page which contains instructions for updating existing Sitecore solutions to 6.4.1

Scaling Guide
To make SQL Server Replication work correctly, it's important that SQL Server replication is configured to replicate data in the EventQueue table after data from other tables. We are going to release an updated SQL Server Replication Guide with instructions for doing so (it's a simple step, but quite important).

Technical Preview
Oh, and as I'm sure you all know by now, Sitecore CMS 6.4 graduated from Technical Preview to General Availability on December 17th when a number of 6.4 compatible modules and additional documentation was published.