Enhanced VMotion Compatibility (EVC) processor support

Jan 152009

Details:

Enhanced VMotion Compatibility (EVC) simplifies VMotion compatibility issues across CPU generations. EVC automatically configures server CPUs with Intel FlexMigration or AMD-V Extended Migration technologies to be compatible with older servers. After EVC is enabled for a cluster in the VirtualCenter inventory, all hosts in that cluster are configured to present identical CPU features and ensure CPU compatibility for VMotion. The features presented by each host are determined by selecting a predefined EVC baseline. VirtualCenter does not permit the addition of hosts that cannot be automatically configured to be compatible with the EVC baseline.

Solution:

To use the EVC feature, you must be running ESX Server 3.5 Update 2 or higher with Virtual Center 2.5 Update 2 or higher and have only compatible processors that are listed in one of the following tables. EVC does not allow for migration with VMotion between Intel and AMD processors. Note the following restrictions:

The tables below are based upon public information. VMware has not verified all of these processors. For more information on which servers and processors are supported, see the Systems Compatibility Guide for ESX Server 3.5 and ESX Server 3i.
This list only covers server class processors compatible with the EVC baseline(s) and might not be a complete list.
You must ensure the BIOS settings for these processors enable Hardware Virtualization (if available) and Execute Protection. Default BIOS settings may not always enable these features. Hardware Virtualization is Intel VT on Intel processors and AMD-V on (supported) AMD processors. Execute Protection is Intel eXecute Disable (XD) on Intel processors and AMD No eXecute (NX) on AMD processors.

This section contains the following subjects:

Intel® Xeon® CPUs allowed in an EVC cluster

Intel CPU Models	EVC Baseline in ESX 3.5U2
*Merom based CPUs* Intel® Xeon® Processor 7000 series E7210, E7220, E7310, E7320, E7330, E7340, L7345, X7350 (Tigerton)	Default for Intel Hosts
Intel® Xeon® Processor 5000 series 5110, 5120, 5128, 5130, 5138, 5140, 5148, 5150, 5160 (Woodcrest) E5310, L5310, E5320, L5320, E5335, L5335, E5345, x5355, x5365 (Clovertown)
Intel® Xeon® Processor 3000 series 3040, 3050, 3060, 3065, 3070, 3075, 3085 (Conroe) x3210, x3220, x3230 (Kentsfield)
*Penryn based CPUs* Intel® Xeon® Processor 7000 series x7470, E7459, E7440, E7430, E7420, L7455, L7445 (Dunnington)
Intel® Xeon® Processor 5000 series E5205, L5238, X5260, X5272 (Wolfdale) E5405, E5410, L5410, E5420, L5420, E5430, E5440, E5450, X5405, X5460, E5462, E5472, X5472, X5482 (Harpertown)
Intel® Xeon® Processor 3000 series E3110 (Wolfdale) X3320, X3350, X3360 (Yorkfield)

AMD Opteron™ CPUs allowed in an EVC Cluster

AMD CPU Models	EVC Baseline in ESX 3.5U2
*Rev.E/Rev.F based CPUs* Rev.E based CPUs 1yy (Denmark, Venus), 2yy (Troy, Italy), 8yy (Athens, Egypt) Rev.F based CPUs 12yy (Santa Ana), 22yy, 82yy (Santa Rosa)	Default for AMD hosts
*Third Generation AMD Opteron(tm) Greyhound based CPUs.* Greyhound based CPUs 13yy (Budapest), 23yy, 83yy (Barcelona)
* The “yy” in the AMD Opteron models numbers are based on the clock frequency

References

See the following VMware references for information on the following subjects:

For information on configuring EVC, see the Basic System Administration Guide for ESX 3.5 U2.
For general information on VMotion see the VMotion Compatibility Info Guide.
For general VMotion processor compatibility information, see KB 1991 for Intel processors and KB 1992 for AMD processors.
For VMotion and Compatibility FAQs, see KB 1005764.
For detecting and using CPU Features in applications, see KB 1005763.

Also, see the following third-party references:

The Intel processor spec finder, http://processorfinder.intel.com/
The AMD products spec, http://products.amd.com/en-us/

Other references:

The Wikipedia resource on Intel Xeon processors at http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Xeon
The Wikipedia resource on AMD Opteron processors at http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Opteron