Apparatus and method for communicating configuration information in a computer system

A live insertion system, comprising:

• a live insertion device having a plurality of configurations;
• an external housing supporting the live insertion device;
• a visible indicator coupled to the external housing, wherein the visible indicator has one or more states corresponding to one or more of the plurality of configurations;
• configuration logic coupled to the live insertion device and the visible indicator, wherein the configuration logic communicates information about a configuration of the live insertion device with the live insertion device and the visible indicator.

A live insertion system for tracking a configuration of a live insertion device, comprising:

• an operating system managing at least basic operations for a computer system;
• and
• a device driver coupled to the operating system to control the live insertion device,
• wherein the live insertion system receives configuration information about the live insertion device and communicates the configuration information about the live insertion device through an exterior of the live insertion device.

A live insertion system, comprising:

• a housing;
• a processor supported by the housing;
• a memory coupled to the processor;
• a peripheral bus coupled to the processor;
• a live insertion device coupled to the peripheral bus;
• and
• an indicator supported by the housing for communicating configuration information,
• wherein at least one of the processor and the memory have loaded:
• an operating system, a device driver for the live insertion device, and an environmental monitor for the live insertion device.

A live insertion system, comprising:

• a live insertion device having a plurality of configurations and an exterior;
• a configuration module coupled to the live insertion device, wherein the configuration module communicates information about a configuration of the live insertion device with the live insertion device;
• and
• an indicator coupled to the exterior of the configuration module, wherein the indicator has one or more states corresponding to one or more of the plurality of configurations, and the indicator displays information about the configuration of the live insertion device with the live insertion device.