SLO downtime overview

note

Currently, this feature is behind the feature flag SRM_DOWNTIME. Contact Harness Support to enable the feature.

SLO downtime lets you schedule a maintenance window during which your service can undergo updates without impacting the SLO.

Benefits

SLO downtime feature can benefit your organization in the following ways:

Minimize SLO impact
Configuring SLO downtimes allow organizations to schedule maintenance and updates during periods of lower user activity, minimizing the impact on SLOs. For example, an e-commerce website can schedule a SLO downtime for a Sunday night when user activity is at its lowest. During this time, the website is down for maintenance. By specifying a SLO downtime window in advance, teams can plan and communicate the downtime to users and stakeholders, reducing the risk of unexpected disruptions.
Ensure regulatory compliance
Many industries have regulatory requirements that specify the need for scheduled downtime. SLO downtimes can help organizations comply with these requirements by providing a structured approach to scheduling downtime. For example, a large bank can schedule a SLO downtime every quarter for regular system maintenance to comply with industry regulations.

Reduce impact of unexpected events
While organizations can plan for scheduled maintenance, unexpected events can still occur. By scheduling a SLO downtime, organizations can reduce the impact of unexpected events by having a chosen period to perform emergency maintenance or repairs. For example, a cloud-based storage provider can experience a hardware failure that results in unexpected downtime. If the SRE organization has a scheduled SLO downtime that begins in three hours, they can use this time to perform emergency repairs.