HDInsight Life Cycle

The most current version, HDInsight 3.6, was released on Apr. 6, 2017. Current and upcoming versions are shown above. The service receives updates (called versions) usually once a year that improve security and performance of the underlying fabric and platform. The HDInsight version is distinct from the cluster type versions and add-on component versions, which are updated more frequently.

The service uses a two-phased end-of-life format:

• Support date is the last date a cluster of a given version is supported by Microsoft customer service (shown here as End of Support), although customers can continue running clusters after they leave the supported phase.
• Retirement date is the last date that a cluster on that version can be created or resized, which means existing clusters on older versions (past retirement date) can continue to operate, but they cannot be changed.

HDInsight version 3.5 is scheduled to retire on May 31, 2018, and the next version, HDInsight 3.7 will likely be released by the middle of 2018.