The future of the CentOS project sounds disturbing to some users, and many people are concerned about the current and future state of the project. There are several reasons why users continue to utilize CentOS, and all of them are valid and understandable, even though the EOL was planned for a couple of years and everyone was notified about it.
Here in the article, we will talk more about CentOS, CentOS VPS, and some helpful recommendations about its hosting, as well as some risks connected with the usage of an EOL operating system. If you are on the same path and want to know more about the hosting solutions and providers, we will share all the important information here.
CentOS and risks of its usage
CentOS was initially introduced in 2004 and quickly became one of the stable, predictable, and rock-solid variants for the diversity of users. This distro is an ideal option for lots of projects, including legacy apps, databases, and more.
A couple of years ago, it was decided to discontinue its functioning, and this announcement brought lots of questions and obvious safety concerns. Here are the end-of-life dates for the most recent CentOS:
- CentOS Linux 8: Dec. 31, 2021
- CentOS Linux 7: June 30, 2024
Technical support and software maintenance of other versions stopped even earlier; as of today, users of CentOS are no longer getting any support or maintenance. So, when you decide to continue using this distro, you are surely becoming more prone to security breaches and vulnerabilities of all sorts.
The major reasons for the end of CentOS support
Initially, CentOS appeared as a generic version of RHEL that solved some issues and bugs that were found in RHEL. Because of this reason, CentOS become way more popular than other Linux distros. The maintaining of so-called clone or CentOS requires more effort and substantial infrastructure, so the main reason for the end of support may be connected with resources.
With the end of CentOS support, CentOS Stream appeared as a development brand, but not a replacement for the standard version. That means CentOS Stream cannot offer the same level of stability. End of CentOS support may also be considered as the shift in the project strategy towards CentOS Stream.
Among other possible reasons, there were some community trust issues, changes in the release model, and business alignment.
Recommendations for those who continue using CentOS in 2026
As CentOS is no longer supported, the main recommendation for all users is to switch to another officially supported distro. However, there are lots of users who still continue to use CentOS. In such a case, they just need to be more intentional about the choice of the hosting solution.
Among the most popular alternative of CentOS are considered to be Ubuntu and RHEL, with a minimal percentage of users who switched to CentOS Stream.
The usage of CentOS Stream means the availability of more frequent updates, more dependency sensitivity, and some breaking changes. With the usage of a reliable hosting provider, it is possible to deal with these risks and have a rollback option.
If you are not yet ready to switch to an alternative version or you are just testing available versions, then you can try a hosting solution that will guarantee better isolation, DDoS mitigation, high uptime, and minimal latency.
What hosting solution is it better to choose?
The most optimal option for those users who are still using CentOS is to select VPS as the best possible variant with the availability of custom firewall rules, root access, quick backups, and isolation.
A virtual private server will be a great option for projects with internal services, Docker, legacy apps, and others. There is a diversity of CentOS-friendly hosting providers, so just check out this information on their official websites or contact the support team for more information regarding this topic.
Depending on the size of the project, you might need a dedicated server for heavier workloads and specific compliance needs. However, this hosting solution is a way more pricey option, which is why you need to weigh the major benefits of dedicated hosting and its cost.
Summing up
If you are still running CentOS, you should know that you are not alone, and other users are on the same path as you. There are lots of alternative options for you to switch to, but if, for some reason, you are not planning a migration, you may take a risk and continue its usage.
Try to evaluate your decision and choose a reliable hosting provider that can help you with this process. Search for a provider and the most suitable hosting solution that can guarantee constant monitoring, maintenance, and professional technical support for the current project.
