Does a primary nameserver reload its configuration?

[Sara]

Dear all,

I was wondering if a primary master BIND DNS server reload
automatically its configuration. So, are all the timer specifies in
the SOA related only to slave-to-master replication process? Or does
any of them force a primary master to reload its configuration to load
new zones in case they have been added? I am asking this because I am
evaluating the impacts deriving from a possible disk failure on which
the BIND configuration file are stored. Hence, should a primary master
nameserver correctly start up, will it continue to run smoothly even
if the disk on which its configuration files reside are lost?
Thank you for any suggestion.

Sara