The OS life cycle of GCP

[dayeon]

Hello, I would like to ask the following 5 questions regarding the OS life cycle of GCP.

1. I'd like to know if there's any criterion for launching a new OS.
For example, a new OS might have to be released 6 months after its release by the manufacturer... is there any constraint on launching a new OS like this?

2. I'd like to know the possible impacts of ending the sales of OS.

When the sale of the existing server ends (in other words, when a new server is created), are there any constraints on the functionality or usage of the existing server?

3. When the technical support for the existing servers is no longer provided, are there any constraints on the functionality or usage of the existing server?

4. When the support for server images is no longer provided, which of the following three cases is the right one?
(1) Creating a new server with the server image no longer available.
(2) It is possible to create a new server with the server image, but technical support is no longer provided.
(3) It is possible through the console, CLI, and API.

5. Does the SLA specify details about release, end-of-sale, and end-of-technical support of OS?

Thank you ahead for your help. 

[dionv]

Hello dayeon,

To answer your questions, there is a Google documentation that I can share to you as reference:

1. OS providers typically publish updates every month. In these updates, new features might be introduced. New features are typically not backported to the OS after this stage.

2. When you delete an existing server, the cost for usage of the deleted server will stop and as long as the resources needed for the new server is within your resources quota, there will be no constraints with the functionality of the new server. With the deleted server, all functionality will be deleted.

3. For the technical support of existing servers, as long as the technical issue is within the scope of support, then the technical supports will provide assistance to fix the issue.

4. VMs that use an end of life OS on Compute Engine might continue to work beyond their end of life date. However, any issues experienced by these VMs are not eligible for support.

5. Here is the SLA for using features under GCP that you can check.