[tor-relays] keeping tor relays operational

Sorry if this question has been answered dozens of times before. I have a middle relay that has been operational since last summer. I wish to make some alterations to my torrc file and make these changes operationally active without stopping and restarting tor. Is this possible? I experience a bit of down time whenever I up bandwidth, change contact info, etc. I'm also disapointed when ubuntu sends updates that require a server restart. What is the best method to handle this on a stand-alone server? LB