Foo Lim wrote: > BTW, how do servers with hot-swappable SCSI drives deal with this? Does > this mean power supply manufacturers will soon be releasing better and > more flexible power connectors for regular consumption? (I wouldn't hold > my breath.)
It's a combination of connectors that make/release grounding connections earlier than signal connections, plus specialized chips that control power application. Eg, when contact is first made, the drive's filter capacitors will -- for a very short time -- act like dead shorts across the power bus. The resulting surge of current wreaks havoc on the other hardware connected to the sourcing power supply, and tends to weld the contacts on the connector. Telephone companies have a huge interest in hot-swap techniques, since they can't very well just turn off everyone's phone circuit while they replace a defective card. If you're interested in more details than this, here are some chips that one could use to do hot-swap: http://www.linear-tech.com/prod/prod_home.html?product_family=hotswap HTH, Chuck -- Power corrupts, but intermittent power corrupts absolutely.
