Downtime refers to the REDCap application being taken offline. REDCap is taken offline for the following maintenance activities:
- Monthly upgrades to REDCap.
- Quarterly updates to the web servers that host REDCap.
- Critical patches, as needed, to REDCap or the server software.
When REDCap is offline, REDCap is unavailable for use. This means personnel cannot create new projects, users cannot access their existing projects, survey participants cannot take surveys, etc.
In general, we schedule downtimes for monthly upgrades and quarterly updates to occur during less active evening hours, and when the impact on research activities (study staff and survey participants) should be minimal.
Example: REDCap downtime notice posted on REDCap website during upgrade
Scheduling & Duration
Downtime is usually scheduled 1-7 days in advance, and typically occurs on a week night and during evening hours. On very rare occasions, a critical update requires the REDCap Team to take REDCap offline without scheduling in advance.
- REDCap Upgrades: Upgrades are typically scheduled for 1 hour of downtime.
- Server Updates: Updates are typically scheduled for 2 hours of downtime.
- Critical Patches: Downtime for patches varies, but in our experience, typically, applying a patch does not exceed 1 hour of downtime.
Notifications
As a matter of routine, the REDCap Team notifies users via email regarding the date, time and purpose of scheduled downtimes for upgrades and updates. Project teams are expected to assess the impact on their project and to make plans or adjust operations accordingly.
With regard to critical patches, the REDCap Team will make every effort to email, in advance, a notification for downtime. However, there could be circumstances, which we would anticipate to be very rare, that would require the REDCap Team to take REDCap offline, without notification, to apply a patch.