Disconnected Satellite
Although a primary server can accept an update even while disconnected from a satellite, avoid this practice, as it can cause administrative complexities. Before attempting to deploy an updated realm definition, check the health of all affiliated servers and correct any network issues.
Consider a situation in which a satellite S is inoperative or disconnected from the primary P. Nonetheless, an administrator deploys an updated realm definition to a family of affiliated servers. The deployment can proceed (unless some other condition prevents it, such as a No answer from a client).
Meanwhile, if satellite S is still operating, it continues to service client requests with information from the outdated realm definition. If, on the other hand, S is inoperative, clients migrate to its backup server, which also serves information from the outdated realm definition.
When S reconnects to P, P deploys the updated realm definition to S. Because the update is already deployed at other affiliated servers, P does not first test the update against S and its clients. Instead, P deploys the update to S, and S immediately deploys it to its clients and its backup server, even though the update might cause difficulties for some clients of S.
If you must deploy an updated realm definition in such circumstances, then as S reconnects and deploys the update, it is prudent to carefully monitor its clients.