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Network Outage Tolerance

xAssets Configuration Guide
Settings

Network Outage Tolerance

Network Outage Tolerance controls how the xAssets web application behaves when the connection between the user's browser and the server is interrupted. Network interruptions can occur due to Wi-Fi drops, VPN disconnections, server restarts, or wider infrastructure outages. This page explains what happens during an outage, how the application attempts to recover, and what users can expect.

Prerequisites

  • This page is relevant to all users of the xAssets web application.
  • Administrators who need to configure outage tolerance settings should have access to Admin > Settings.

What Happens During a Network Outage

When the connection between the browser and the xAssets server is lost, the application detects the failure and enters a recovery mode:

  1. Detection — the browser detects that a server request has failed (timeout or connection refused).
  2. Visual indicator — a notification appears in the browser indicating that the connection has been lost. The application does not immediately close or redirect to a login page.
  3. Automatic reconnection — the application begins attempting to reconnect to the server at regular intervals.
  4. Recovery — when the connection is restored, the application resumes normal operation. The user's session and any unsaved work in the current screen are preserved where possible.

What Works During an Outage

During a network outage, the following functionality is still available in the browser:

Function Available? Notes
Viewing data already loaded Yes Data that was loaded before the outage remains visible on screen
Scrolling through loaded results Yes Results already in the browser can be scrolled
Editing form fields Yes Fields can be edited in the browser, but saving requires a connection
Navigating to new screens No Navigation requires server requests
Saving changes No Save operations are queued and retried when the connection is restored
Running queries No Queries require server requests
Discovery and batch jobs No Server-side operations stop until the server is available

Tip: If you are editing an asset form when a network outage occurs, do not close the browser tab. Your unsaved edits remain in the form fields and can be saved once the connection is restored.

Reconnection Behaviour

The application uses an escalating retry strategy to reconnect:

  1. Immediate retry — the first reconnection attempt occurs within a few seconds of the failure.
  2. Short interval retries — subsequent attempts occur at short intervals (e.g., every 5-10 seconds) for the first minute.
  3. Extended interval retries — after the first minute, the interval increases (e.g., every 30 seconds) to avoid overwhelming a recovering server.
  4. Maximum retry period — reconnection attempts continue for a configurable period. If the connection is not restored within this period, the application displays a message indicating that the session has timed out and the user should refresh the page.

Configuration

Network outage tolerance settings are available in Admin > Settings:

Setting Description Default
Connection Timeout The number of seconds to wait for a server response before considering the connection lost.
Reconnection Attempts The maximum number of reconnection attempts before showing a session timeout message.
Retry Interval The initial interval (in seconds) between reconnection attempts.

Server-Side Outage Behaviour

When the xAssets application server itself experiences an outage (as opposed to a network-only interruption):

  • Session preservation — user sessions are maintained in the database. When the server restarts, existing sessions can resume without requiring re-authentication (subject to session timeout limits).
  • Batch job recovery — scheduled batch jobs that were interrupted by the outage will resume on the next scheduled run. Jobs do not automatically retry the interrupted execution.
  • Discovery — discovery operations that were in progress when the server went down may need to be restarted. Check the discovery status after the server recovers.
  • Database failover — if the xAssets database is configured with SQL Server failover (Always On, mirroring, etc.), the application can reconnect to the failover partner automatically. See the database failover documentation for details.

User Experience During Planned Maintenance

During planned server maintenance:

  1. Notify users in advance that the system will be unavailable.
  2. Users who are actively working will see the outage notification and automatic reconnection attempts.
  3. Once maintenance is complete and the server is restarted, active sessions will reconnect automatically.
  4. Users who closed their browsers during maintenance will need to log in again.

Tip: Schedule maintenance during off-hours to minimise the number of affected users. The system recovers automatically, but users with unsaved work during the outage window may lose their changes if they close the browser.

Troubleshooting

Symptom Likely Cause Resolution
"Connection lost" appears frequently Unstable network (Wi-Fi, VPN) Check the user's network connection; consider a wired connection for critical work
Application does not reconnect after server restart Session timeout exceeded Refresh the browser page and log in again
Reconnection succeeds but data is stale Browser cache showing old data Refresh the page after reconnection to load current data
"Session timed out" appears after a brief outage Connection Timeout setting is too low Increase the Connection Timeout value in Admin > Settings

Tips

Tip: If you work over a VPN connection, ensure your VPN is configured for automatic reconnection. A VPN drop will trigger the outage tolerance behaviour, and automatic VPN reconnection will allow the application to recover seamlessly.

Tip: For users in locations with unreliable internet, consider using the application over a Remote Desktop connection to the server. This moves the network dependency to the shorter, more reliable path between the server and the Remote Desktop session.

Warning: Network outage tolerance is not a substitute for saving your work. Always save form changes promptly rather than leaving unsaved edits open for extended periods. The tolerance feature is designed to handle brief interruptions, not extended outages.