Pci Hot Plug Support; Nos Support For Pci Hot Plug; Special Features Of Pci Hot-Plug Slots - HP D5970A - NetServer - LCII Installation Manual

Chapter 6

PCI Hot Plug Support

The four slots that support PCI Hot Plug operations, P7 through P10, are called
the PCI Hot Plug slots. They support 32-bit and 64-bit cards, with or without PCI
Hot Plug drivers.

NOS Support for PCI Hot Plug

The PCI Hot Plug feature is only operational in a Hot Plug slot if the network
operating system (NOS) supports PCI Hot Plug, and if the board in the slot has
PCI Hot Plug device drivers.
Some network operating systems (NOS) allow only hot replacement of boards,
while others also allow hot addition and hot removal (removal without
replacement). Your operating system documentation will tell you what PCI Hot
Plug operations your OS supports.
While Windows NT 4.0 itself does not support hot plug operations, HP
Configuration Assistant installs a hot-plug interface program on NT servers,
system software, and drivers for HP-supported hot-plug boards. Through this
program, Windows NT 4.0 supports hot replacement of identical boards. You
will find Configuration Assistant on the HP NetServer Navigator CD-ROM.
When planning the hot-replacement of a board, first use the features of the NOS
(or the PCI Hot Plug program under NT 4.0) to turn off power to the slot through
software. Only then should you replace the board. After replacement, power up
the board again through the NOS.

Special Features of PCI Hot-Plug Slots

As mentioned above, the PCI Hot Plug slots can support boards with or without
hot-plug device drivers. But the slots themselves have special hardware to
support Hot Plug operation:
A removable PCI Hot Plug board bracket that physically cuts power to the
PCI Hot Plug slot when it is removed. You must remove this bracket
before taking out a board, and you must replace it when the new board is
in place.
Installing Additional Boards
51