Important Information

This section details important information for properly operating and maintaining your system.

Shutting down Windows

Shutting down Windows while D3 is running is strongly discouraged. It is always recommended to cleanly and completely shut down D3 before shutting down Windows. Failure to do so may leave the database in an inconsistent state which could lead to data errors (GFEs) or other data problems. You cannot depend on a Windows shutdown to leave enough time for the database to completely clear all memory and write all data to the file system.

It is strongly recommended that automatic Windows updates are disabled on the Windows server running D3. Automatic updates frequently require a reboot of Windows which could interrupt database jobs that are running and may not leave enough time for all write required buffers to be written to disk. Windows updates should be set to "Check for updates but let me choose whether to download and install them". Any updates that are required should be installed after D3 has been shut down. The D3 service should be set to manual start while updates are being installed to be prevent an automatic start of the database if a Windows reboot is required during the installation of the updates.