The USB passthrough feature allows you to connect the USB devices (such as dongles and USB keys) attached to an HCI node to VMs. Administrators can use this feature to mount and unmount USB devices on HCI. After a USB device is inserted into a node, the USB device can be connected to all VMs running on the node and other nodes in the same cluster, and the connections can be automatically restored after VM restart upon failure or network disconnection. VMs with USB passthrough enabled are ideal for business scenarios where physical USB devices are required for apps, such as dongles for financial software and USB keys for industrial control software.
Common Features of VMs with USB Passthrough Enabled
Feature
Supported or Not
Offline Specification Change
Yes. You can change CPU and memory specifications.
Online Specification Change
Yes. You can increase the number of vCPUs and the memory size.
Cold Migration (Run Location)
No. You need to disconnect VMs from USB devices first.
Live Migration (Run Location)
No. Live migration is not supported for VMs connected to USB devices.
HA
No. VMs cannot be automatically migrated to another node when the node where they currently reside fails. You need to manually migrate the VMs and connect them to USB devices again.
VM Snapshot
Yes. The VM snapshot contains only system data of the VM and does not contain memory data.
Cloning
No. USB device connections cannot be inherited after cloning and need to be reconfigured.
Cross-Node USB Device Connection
Yes. The USB device attached to a node can be connected to VMs on other nodes in the same cluster.
Auto Restoration of USB Device Connection
Yes. USB device connections will be automatically restored after VM restart upon failure or network disconnection.
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