The dynamic reconfiguration feature enables operations, such as the removal of system hardware, in running systems. The dynamic reconfiguration processes are designed to ensure continuous system operation with no need to halt the system or interrupt cluster availability.
Dynamic reconfiguration operates at the board level. Therefore, a dynamic reconfiguration operation affects all the components on a board. Each board can contain multiple components, including CPUs, memory, and peripheral interfaces for disk drives, tape drives, and network connections.
Removing a board that contains active components would result in system errors. Before removing a board, the dynamic reconfiguration subsystem queries other subsystems, such as Oracle Solaris Cluster, to determine whether the components on the board are being used. If the dynamic reconfiguration subsystem finds that a board is in use, the dynamic reconfiguration remove-board operation is not done. Therefore, it is always safe to issue a dynamic reconfiguration remove-board operation because the dynamic reconfiguration subsystem rejects operations on boards that contain active components.
The dynamic reconfiguration add-board operation is also always safe. CPUs and memory on a newly added board are automatically brought into service by the system. However, the system administrator must manually configure the cluster to actively use components that are on the newly added board.
The following sections describe dynamic reconfiguration considerations for the different device types.