Managing Downtimes

Overview

Downtimes allow you to schedule and track future outages in your facility. They can be applied to Resources, Infrastructure, or Locations. The system automatically manages affected resources, notifies impacted users, and updates statuses based on scheduled events.

Creating a Downtime

Basic Details

When creating a new downtime, you'll need to provide:

• Name (required): A descriptive name for the downtime
• Slug: A URL-friendly identifier (auto-generated from name if not specified)
• Description: Details about the nature of the outage and any relevant information
• Start Date (required): When the downtime begins (with timezone selection)
• Expected End Date (required): When you expect the downtime to end (with timezone selection)

Configuration Options

• Auto Resolve: When enabled, the system automatically resolves the downtime when there are no more scheduled events. This returns affected resources to their available state without manual intervention.

• Create Broadcast Message: When enabled, the system automatically creates a broadcast message when the downtime becomes active. This helps ensure all relevant parties are notified.

Downtime Schedule and Events

When you initially create a downtime, the system creates a Schedule with a single Event corresponding to your start and end dates. You can add additional events to accurately describe complex outage patterns.

Example Use Cases for Multiple Events

If you need to take a system offline repeatedly, you can add multiple events to a single downtime schedule:

• After-hours maintenance: Daily events from 11 PM to 6 AM
• Weekend work: Saturday and Sunday events over multiple weeks
• Phased rollouts: Multiple non-consecutive periods for staged deployments

Attaching Affected Resources

After defining your schedule, attach the affected:

• Resources: Specific equipment or facilities
• Infrastructure: Broader systems or networks
• Locations: Physical spaces or areas

The system automatically:

1. Determines which users are impacted (those with reservations that intersect with affected resources during downtime events)
2. Updates the impacted user count shown in the dashboard
3. Sends notifications to affected users
4. Recalculates impact whenever you modify resources, events, or schedules

Downtime States

A downtime progresses through three possible states:

State	Affected Resource Status	Description
Scheduled	Available	Downtime is planned but not yet active
Active	Unavailable	Downtime is currently in effect; resources automatically marked unavailable
Resolved	Available	Downtime is complete; resources returned to available state

Automatic Status Updates

The system checks downtime statuses every 15 minutes:

• If an event is currently active, status changes to Active
• If no future events exist and auto_resolve is enabled, status changes to Resolved
• If no future events exist but auto_resolve is disabled, status returns to Scheduled
• Once Resolved, a downtime cannot be reactivated

You can also manually trigger a status update for all downtimes via the admin panel.

Dashboard Overview

The downtimes dashboard displays:

Summary Cards (30-day view by default)

• Downtimes By Status: Breakdown of downtimes in each state
• Impacted Users: Number of users with affected reservations
• Impacted Resources: Count of resources involved in scheduled downtimes

Downtimes List

View and search all downtimes with filtering options. When no downtimes match your criteria, you can create one directly from the empty state.

User Notifications

Users receive notifications when:

• A new downtime is created that affects their reservations
• A downtime is modified to include their resources
• A downtime becomes active
• They are no longer impacted (due to downtime modifications or cancellations)

This ensures all stakeholders stay informed about outages affecting their scheduled use of resources.

Best Practices

1. Provide detailed descriptions: Include the reason for the downtime and any user actions required
2. Use auto-resolve for simple downtimes: Enable this for single-event downtimes to reduce manual overhead
3. Enable broadcast messages for critical outages: Ensure maximum visibility for important maintenance
4. Plan schedules carefully: Add all known events upfront to give users maximum notice
5. Monitor impacted users: Review the impacted user count before finalizing to understand the scope of impact
6. Keep downtimes updated: If plans change, update the schedule promptly so users receive accurate notifications