Managing Devices through Hardware Profiles

Developers, engineers, and information technology (IT) testers often need a way to implement or test different device configurations. You can, of course, do this by enabling and disabling devices, but this can be tedious and time-consuming. A more practical way to implement multiple device configurations is to use hardware profiles.

By using hardware profiles, you can create different device configurations and load them quickly by selecting the appropriate profile to use during startup of the operating system. Hardware profiles are most commonly used with mobile workstations and servers. On a portable computer with a Plug and Play–compatible docking station, you'll have two profiles that are created and loaded automatically as needed: a docked profile for when the computer is connected to the network, and an undocked profile for when the computer is disconnected from the docking station.

You could create hardware profiles for different device configurations as well. For example, you could have a standard profile that includes the standard devices for internal RAID controllers and drive arrays and a test profile that includes external fiber-channel devices. You could then test out the fiber-channel storage devices using the second profile and easily switch back to the standard device set when you are finished testing.

You create and manage hardware profiles by using the System utility. In the System utility, select the Hardware tab, and then click Hardware Profiles. This opens the dialog box shown in Figure 13-7.

Hardware profiles are useful for testing various device configurations

Figure 13-7. Hardware profiles are useful for testing various device configurations

Windows Server 2003 allows you to configure the way hardware profiles are used in several ways. The active profile (that is, the one currently being used) is listed as (Current). The default profile highlighted at startup is determined by the profile's position in the Available Hardware Profiles list. To set a profile as the default, select it, and click the up arrow until the profile is at the top of the list. You can also determine how long the system displays the hardware profile menu at startup. If you don't want the hardware profile menu to be displayed, set a wait of 0 seconds.

To create new hardware profiles, you use a copy of an existing profile and then enable or disable devices as necessary. Follow these steps to create and use a new profile:

  1. In Control Panel, double-click System to start the System utility.

  2. Select the Hardware tab, and then click Hardware Profile.

  3. In the Available Hardware Profiles list, select the profile you want to use as a template for the new profile, and then click Copy.

  4. In the Copy Profile dialog box, enter a name for the profile, and then click OK.

  5. Select the new profile, and then click Properties. For nonmobile servers, ensure the This Is A Portable Computer option isn't selected, as shown in Figure 13-8. For all computers, select Always Include This Profile As An Option When Windows Starts. Click OK.

    Nonmobile servers don't have docked or undocked states, so clear This Is A Portable Computer if it is selected

    Figure 13-8. Nonmobile servers don't have docked or undocked states, so clear This Is A Portable Computer if it is selected

  6. Repeat Steps 3 through 5 to create other profiles. Then set the hardware profile selection options. In most cases, you'll want the Windows operating system to select a profile automatically after a 3- to 5-second delay. That way if you don't select a profile, the computer starts quickly using the default profile.

  7. Restart the computer, and then choose the profile you want to work with. Start Device Manager, and then access the Properties dialog boxes for each of the devices you want to enable or disable in turn. In the General tab, use the Device Usage settings as follows:

    • Use This Device (Enable)—Choose this option for any device that you want to make available for the current profile.

    • Do Not Use This Device In The Current Hardware Profile (Disable)—Choose this option for any device that should be disabled in the current profile.

    • Do Not Use This Device In Any Hardware Profiles (Disable)—Choose this option for any device that should be disabled regardless of which profile is used.

  8. To configure devices for additional profiles, repeat Step 7.

..................Content has been hidden....................

You can't read the all page of ebook, please click here login for view all page.
Reset