SQL Server must shutdown immediately in the event of an audit failure, unless an alternative audit capability exists.

It is critical that, when SQL Server is at risk of failing to process audit logs as required, it takes action to mitigate the failure. If the system were to continue processing without auditing enabled, actions could be taken on the system that could not be tracked and recorded for later forensic analysis.

In many system configurations, the disk space allocated to the auditing system is separate from the disks allocated for the operating system; therefore, this may not result in a system outage. This places the onus on the DBMS to detect and take actions.

A failure of SQL Server auditing will result in either the database continuing to function without auditing, or the halting of SQL Server operations. In this case, the database must cease processing immediately in order to not allow unlogged transaction to occur.

Note that trace file rollover does not count as an audit failure, provided that the system is also configured to shut down when it runs out of space. Trace file rollover can be a useful technique for breaking the log into manageable pieces, for archiving, or for transfer to a log management system.