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Enhanced VMotion Compatibility (EVC) processor support

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 EVC, you must be running ESX 3.5 Update 2 or higher with VirtualCenter 2.5 Update 2 or higher and have compatible processors in your servers. EVC does not allow for migration with VMotion between Intel and AMD processors.
 
Note the following restrictions:
  1. VMware cannot verify whether all processor models listed are capable of EVC support. For more information on supported servers and processors models, see the Systems Compatibility Guide for your ESX version.
  1. Verify 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. Until these CPU features are enabled, ESX hosts with EVC supported CPU types listed below will be unsupported.

    EVC capabilities of your server are based on two factors:

    1. The version of vCenter Server that manages the host.
    2. The underlying CPU architecture of the host processor.

      Tables 1.1 and 1.2 lists the available EVC baselines their description.
      Table 2 describes EVC baselines supported by different vCenter Server versions.
      Tables 3.1 and 3.2 describe EVC baselines supported by different CPU architectures.
       

    This section contains the following subjects:

    • Table 1.1: Description of Intel EVC Baselines
    • Table 1.2: Description of AMD EVC Baselines
    • Table 2: EVC Baselines supported in ESX releases
    • Table 3.1: EVC Baselines on Intel CPUs
    • Table 3.2: EVC Baselines on AMD CPUs
    • References
       

    Table 1.1: Description of Intel EVC Baselines

    EVC Baseline Description
    Intel® Xeon® Core™ 2 Applies baseline feature set of Intel® Xeon® Core™2 (Merom) processors to all hosts in the cluster.
    Intel® Xeon® 45nm Core™ 2 Applies baseline feature set of Intel® Xeon® 45nm Core™2 (Penryn) processors to all hosts in the cluster.
    Compared to the Intel® Xeon® Core™2 EVC mode, this EVC mode exposes additional CPU features including SSE4.1
    Intel® Xeon® Core™ i7 Applies baseline feature set of Intel® Xeon® Core™i7 (Nehalem) processors to all hosts in the cluster.
    Compared to the Intel® Xeon® 45nm Core™2 EVC mode, this EVC mode exposes additional CPU features including SSE4.2 and POPCOUNT

     
    Table 1.2: Description of AMD EVC Baselines

    EVC Baseline Description
    AMD Opteron™ Generation 1 Applies baseline feature set of AMD Opteron™ Generation 1 (Rev. E) processors to all hosts in the cluster.
    AMD Opteron™ Generation 2 Applies baseline feature set of AMD Opteron™ Generation 2 (Rev. F) processors to all hosts in the cluster.
    Compared to the AMD Opteron™ Generation 1 EVC mode, this EVC mode exposes additional CPU features including CPMXCHG16B and RDTSCP.
    AMD Opteron™ Generation 3 Applies baseline feature set of AMD Opteron™ Generation 3 (Greyhound) processors to all hosts in the cluster.
    Compared to the AMD Opteron™ Generation 2 EVC mode, this EVC mode exposes additional CPU features including SSE4A, MisAlignSSE, POPCOUNT and ABM (LZCNT)

     
    Table 2: EVC Baselines supported in vCenter Server releases

    EVC Cluster Baseline






    vCenter Server Release

    AMD Opteron™ Generation 1

    AMD Opteron™ Generation 2

    AMD Opteron™ Generation 3

    Intel® Xeon® Core™2

    Intel® Xeon® 45nm Core™2

    Intel® Xeon® Core™ i7

    VirtualCenter 2.5 U2 and later updates

    Yes

    No

    No

    Yes

    No

    No

    vCenter Server 4.0

    Yes

    Yes

    Yes

    Yes

    Yes

    Yes

     
    Table 3.1: EVC Baselines on Intel CPUs

    Note: In EVC clusters where the ESX host CPU model is Intel 3500 or 5500 series (Nehalem), ESX 3.5 Update 4 or later and VirtualCenter Server 2.5 Update 4 or later must be installed. For additional information, see VMotion fails with an RDTSCP error in EVC clusters where the ESX Host CPU Model is Intel 3500 series or 5500 series (Nehalem) (1011443). In EVC clusters where the ESX Host CPU model is Intel 3400 series, ESX 3.5 Update 5 or later and VirtualCenter Server 2.5 Update 5 or later must be installed.

    EVC Cluster Baseline






    Host CPU Model

    Intel® Xeon® Core™2

    Intel® Xeon® 45nm Core™2

    Intel® Xeon® Core™ i7

    Intel® Xeon® 3000 Series (numbered 30xx)

    Yes

    No

    No

    Intel® Xeon® 3200 Series (numbered 32xx)

    Yes

    No

    No

    Intel® Xeon® 5100 Series (numbered 51xx)

    Yes

    No

    No

    Intel® Xeon® 5300 Series (numbered 53xx)

    Yes

    No

    No

    Intel® Xeon® 7200 Series (numbered 72xx)

    Yes

    No

    No

    Intel® Xeon® 7300 Series (numbered 73xx)

    Yes

    No

    No

    Intel® Xeon® 3100 Series (numbered 31xx)

    Yes

    Yes

    No

    Intel® Xeon® 3300 Series (numbered 33xx)

    Yes

    Yes

    No

    Intel® Xeon® 5200 Series (numbered 52xx)

    Yes

    Yes

    No

    Intel® Xeon® 5400 Series (numbered 54xx)

    Yes

    Yes

    No

    Intel® Xeon® 7400 Series (numbered 74xx)

    Yes

    Yes

    No

    Intel® Xeon® 3500 Series (numbered 35xx)

    Yes

    Yes

    Yes

    Intel® Xeon® 5500 Series (numbered 55xx)

    Yes

    Yes

    Yes

    Intel® Xeon® 3400 Series (numbered 34xx)

    Yes

    Yes

    Yes

    Legend: CPU Architecture

    Intel® Core™2 (Merom)

    Intel® 45nm Core™2 (Penryn)

    Intel® Core™ i7 (Nehalem)

    Table 3.2: EVC Baselines on AMD CPUs

    EVC Cluster Baseline






    Host CPU Model

    AMD Opteron™ Generation 1

    AMD Opteron™ Generation 2

    AMD Opteron™ Generation 3

    AMD Opteron® 100 Series (numbered 1xx)

    Yes

    No

    No

    AMD Opteron® 200 Series (numbered 2xx)

    Yes

    No

    No

    AMD Opteron® 800 Series (numbered 8xx)

    Yes

    No

    No

    AMD Opteron® 1200 Series (numbered 12xx)

    Yes

    Yes

    No

    AMD Opteron® 2200 Series (numbered 22xx)

    Yes

    Yes

    No

    AMD Opteron® 8200 Series (numbered 82xx)

    Yes

    Yes

    No

    AMD Opteron® 1300 Series (numbered 13xx)

    Yes

    Yes

    Yes

    AMD Opteron® 2300 Series (numbered 23xx)

    Yes

    Yes

    Yes

    AMD Opteron® 2400 Series (numbered 24xx)

    Yes

    Yes

    Yes

    AMD Opteron® 8300 Series (numbered 83xx)

    Yes

    Yes

    Yes

    AMD Opteron® 8400 Series (numbered 84xx)

    Yes

    Yes

    Yes

    Legend: CPU Architecture

    AMD Opteron™ Generation 1 (Rev. E)

    AMD Opteron™ Generation 2 (Rev. F)

    AMD Opteron™ Generation 3 (Greyhound)

    References:

    Third-party references:

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  • KB Article: 1003212
  • Updated: Feb 8, 2010
  • Tags
    How to
  • Products:
    VMware ESX
    VMware VirtualCenter
    VMware vCenter Server
  • Product Versions:
    VMware ESX 3.5.x
    VMware ESX 4.0.x
    VMware VirtualCenter 2.0.x
    VMware VirtualCenter 2.5.x
    VMware vCenter Server 4.0.x