PCI Hot Plug technology allows industry-standard PCI adapters to be added or removed without disrupting the operation of the NetWare®server. This reduces unplanned down time for maintaining or adding disk or LAN adapters.
Features of industry-standard, PCI Hot Plug technology include the following:
Uninterrupted service. You can add or replace network or other I/O controller boards while a system is operating. This can be done through hot insertion or hot removal.
Hot insertion. The process of physically plugging an adapter into a PCI slot without removing power to the server.
Hot removal. The process of physically pulling an adapter from a PCI slot without removing power to the server.
Compatibility. Multiple system providers, operating system suppliers, and adapter vendors can implement Hot Plug, which is compatible with existing PCI standards.
Backward compatibility. You can use a mix of Hot Plug and non-Hot-Plug components in the same system. (But non-Hot-Plug components cannot be added or removed without shutting down the server.)
For a general discussion of PCI Hot Plug architecture and components, see Understanding.
To learn how to enable and use the Novell® Configuration Manager to manage Hot Plug devices, see Managing.