AWARDS Deployment Downtime FAQs
Based on common questions from users about our AWARDS downtime practices, we have developed these helpful FAQs to help you understand and prepare for the times when new feature deployments require a system interruption.
Question: Can users work in AWARDS during downtimes?
Answer: New login sessions are not allowed; existing login sessions may be disrupted.
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At the start of the downtime, the login page is disabled, thereby preventing any new session logins to the system.
- We recommend that users already logged into AWARDS at the start of the downtime save their work and log out if possible. Currently, logged-in users can typically continue working in AWARDS, but they may experience unexpected behavior or loss of data, and we cannot be held responsible in such instances.
Question: How long do downtimes last?
Answer: We anticipate downtimes will last no longer than three (3) hours.
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During downtimes, we execute the deployment and also run tests.
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We use this time to confirm that all has gone as planned and that we don’t anticipate any issues for our users.
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Downtimes are scheduled during hours we hope will have the least impact on our users, and we attempt to give ample advance notice.
Question:Why are downtimes needed?
Answer:Downtimes are needed to help improve your AWARDS experience.
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We schedule downtimes for backend maintenance and/or the release of new AWARDS features that may disrupt your work in AWARDS.
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Downtimes allow us to safely deploy improvements to the system for the benefit of our users.
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We do our best to limit downtimes, as we realize they can be an inconvenience to our users.
Question: Why are some new AWARDS features deployed without downtimes?
Answer: Minor AWARDS features can be deployed safely without downtimes when the feature does not impact a user's workflow.
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You will notice that we release some new features in AWARDS without scheduled downtime. We do this if we consider them “minor” and are certain your work will not be impacted by the deployment.
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In these cases, you will see new features announced on a certain date without having been informed of a recent downtime.