OK. Let's try this again. Looking for a complete explanation ...
*************************************
Advanced Internal Service Options
Additional options will be displayed when you click Advanced Options.
Restart firmware processesSpecific firmware processes can also be restarted without having to perform a full reboot of your node.
****************************************************
Perhaps if I restrict my inquiry 'll get some more information.
1) What exactly is the difference between Restart Babel and Hard Restart Babel ... yes one does not save any states. Explanation please.
2) When exactly would I either Restart Babel or Hard Restart Babel? For a node that is refusing to maintain a connection to another node that is either dtd just fine, or neighbor with good snr/nsnr ... is this a babel problem? Do I learn or gain anything by restarting Babel instead of giving up and rebooting the node?
Ed

Restart Babel - stop the Babel daemon, forget all the routes it knows, starts it up again, starts to learn all the routes again.
Hard Restart Babel - same as above, but essentially makes the network think this is a completely new node that it's never seen before. This can be helpful if connecting to it seems “broken” somehow. Downside is it’ll take about 30 minutes before the nodes is working properly on the network again.
Another way to think about it - a “soft” Babel restart makes your node learn about the network again - a “hard” restart makes the entire network learn about you again
Rebooting the node is not a hard Babel restart.
-------------------------------
Hope this helps. I've asked if it could be put into the docs.
Orv W6BI
OK, then ... how about
Restart arednlink
What is the arednlink daemon ... why would I restart it, and when do I fool with this or with Babel?
Arednlink manages the distributed database of node and service names across the mesh. Restarting might help if a name is not resolving as expected
Note - this and the Babel restart info have been put into the node's help files.
Note #2 - tomorrow's nightly build will have a change that should allow Babel to do faster neighbor checks.
Orv
W6BI
and is the answer different if I see the link on the node status page rather compared to the the mesh status page?
Ed
Orv W6BI