What happens to extract refreshes if the Data Engine fails?

When the Data Engine fails, it significantly impacts the process of handling data extracts within Tableau. In this scenario, the refresh operations rely on the functionality of the Data Engine to process and update extract files effectively. If the engine is unable to perform its tasks due to a failure, any ongoing extract refreshes will halt and only the refresh processes that were already running prior to the failure will continue temporarily until they finish or encounter an error.

However, once the Data Engine is operational again, it can resume normal processing of new or pending extract refreshes. Specifically, this means that if you restart the node or resolve the failure issue, only then can any new or additional refreshes resume. Hence, the statement that refreshes will continue until the node is restarted correctly reflects this behavior, as it acknowledges that the process relies on the state of the Data Engine.

This understanding of how the Data Engine interacts with refresh operations is crucial for managing Tableau environments effectively, especially in the context of data reliability and availability.