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Local Console Manager Installation and User's Guide
Appendix B: Virtual media
Virtual media and USB 2.0 constraints
The virtual media feature of LCM2 appliances enables you to connect to the USB port of an
attached computer. With this feature, a user located at the appliance or using the remote software
can access a local USB storage device, such as a USB CD drive, diskette drive, or flash drive, from
an attached computer.
The Virtual Media Conversion Option (VCO) cable is a composite device that addresses four
functions: keyboard, mouse, CD drive, and mass storage device. The CD drive and mass storage
device will be present on the target device whether or not a virtual media session is mapped. If a
media device is not mapped, it is shown without media present. When a virtual media device is
mapped to the target device, the target device will be notified that media has been inserted. When
the media device is unmapped, the target device will be notified that the media was removed.
Therefore, the USB virtual device is not disconnected from the target device.
The VCO cable presents the keyboard and mouse as a composite USB 2.0 device. Therefore the
BIOS must support composite USB 2.0 human interface device (HID). If the BIOS of the
connected computer does not support this type of device, the keyboard and mouse might not work
until the operating system loads USB 2.0 device drivers. If this occurs, there might be a BIOS
update provided by the computer manufacturer that will provide BIOS support for a USB 2.0
connected keyboard and mouse.
Booting a computer using virtual memory
In many cases the virtual media feature can boot an attached computer from a device attached to the
USB port on the appliance. Most computers with a USB port can use virtual media; however,
limitations in some USB media devices and the BIOS of some computers might prevent the
computer from booting from a USB device attached to the LCM2 appliance.
Booting from a virtual USB device is dependant on the target device supporting booting from an
external composite USB device. It also requires a CD of the operating system that supports external
USB 2.0 booting. The following is a partial list of operating systems that support booting from an
external USB 2.0 device:
•
Windows Server 2003
•
Windows XP
•
Windows 2000 Server with Service Pack 4 (SP4) or later
To determine if your computer can be booted from virtual media, complete the following steps:
1.
Connect a USB CD drive to the GCM2 or GCM4 appliance with an operating system installa-
tion CD that is bootable and map it to the target device. Reboot the target device to determine
if it will boot from this attached CD drive. The BIOS might need to be set to boot from an
external USB device.
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