# Using Active PCI features

Some IBM servers support Active PCI (also called hot-plug PCI) features. You can use these features to install or remove PCI controllers without turning off the server. The ServeRAID-4 controller supports Active PCI functions on Windows NT 4.0, Windows 2000, and NetWare. The following table summarizes which operating systems support these features.

Feature | Windows NT 4.0 | Windows 2000 | NetWare 4.x | NetWare 5.x
--- | --- | --- | --- | ---
Hot add | Yes | Yes | No | Yes
Hot remove | No | Yes | Yes | Yes
Hot replace | Yes | No | No | No

You can use the hot-add feature to add a controller to a running server, thus expanding its capacity.

Note: If you are not using the hot-add feature, restore the controller to the factory-default settings before configuring arrays and logical drives.

Use the hot-remove feature to remove a controller from a running server. If a controller fails, use the hot-replace feature to replace a controller with an identical controller.

Attention: Do not attempt a hot-replace operation on Windows 2000 or NetWare by hot-removing a failed controller and then hot-adding a new controller. Loss of data can occur. If a controller fails on these operating systems, you must shut down the server to replace the controller.

## More information

- Using Windows NT 4.0 with Active PCI features
- Rebuilding a defunct drive
- Recovering from defunct drives
- Rebuilding a hot-swap drive
- Replacing a controller (action)
- Failing from the active to the passive controller (action)

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