Since release 1.7.2, you could retrieve the server version in PHP
syntax style to be able to use version_compare(). If the
information isn't available, you will receive NULL.
Example 214. Verifying server version before running a query
<?php
$version = $db->getServerVersion();
if (!is_null($version)) {
if (version_compare($version, '5.0.0', '>=')) {
// do something
} else {
// do something else
}
} else {
// impossible to read server version
}