What Does Warm Plugging Mean?
Warm plugging is the ability to replace a computer device without shutting down the computer, but only while the machine is in a form of suspend mode.
Also known as warm swapping.
Techopedia Explains Warm Plugging
As the name implies, warm plugging fits somewhere between hot and cold plugging. In hot plugging a device can be replace without turning the computer off. In cold plugging, the computer must be turned off to replace a device. So, in warm plugging, the while the power and OS remain on, activity must be stopped on the bus that the device is connected to. You can think of this as better than a cold swap but worse than a hot swap.