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Processors and guest operating systems that support VMware Fault Tolerance

Details

VMware Fault Tolerance (FT) requires specific processors (CPU) and guest operating systems.

Solution

Processors 

VMware collaborated with AMD and Intel in providing an efficient VMware FT capability on modern x86 processors. The collaboration required changes in both the performance counter architecture and virtualization hardware assists of both Intel and AMD. These changes could only be included in recent processors from both vendors: 3rd-Generation AMD Opteron based on the AMD Barcelona, Budapest and Shanghai processor families; and Intel Xeon processors based on the Penryn and Nehalem microarchitectures and their successors.

Download the VMware SiteSurvey (http://www.vmware.com/download/shared_utilities.html ) utility to check if your configuration can run VMware FT.  

For VMware FT to be supported, the servers that host the virtual machines must each use a supported processor from the same category as documented below:
Intel Xeon based on 45nm Core 2 Microarchitecture Category:
  • 31xx Series
  • 33xx Series
  • 52xx Series (DP)
  • 54xx Series
  • 74xx Series

Intel Xeon based on Core i7 Microarchitecture Category:

  • 34xx Series (Lynnfield)*
  • 34xx Series (Clarkdale)**
  • 35xx Series
  • 36xx Series** 
  • 55xx Series
  • 56xx Series**
  • 65xx Series**
  • 75xx Series***
AMD 3rd Generation Opteron Category:
  • 13xx and 14xx Series
  • 23xx and 24xx Series (DP)
  • 41xx Series*
  • 61xx Series*
  • 83xx and 84xx Series (MP)
* requires VMware vSphere 4.0 Update 1 or greater
** requires VMware vSphere 4.0 Update 2 or greater
*** requires VMware vSphere 4.1 or greater
 
Guest Operating Systems
 
The following table displays guest operating system support for VMware FT. For specific guest operating system version information, see the Guest Operating System Installation Guide at http://www.vmware.com/pdf/GuestOS_guide.pdf.
 
The following values appear in the table:
  • Yes - Virtual machine can be FT-enabled while powered on.
  • Yes/Off - Virtual machine must be powered off before FT is enabled
  • No - Not supported by VMware FT.
 
Guest Operating System
Fault Tolerance Support
with Intel Xeon Based on 45nm Core 2 Microarchitecture
Fault Tolerance Support
with Intel Xeon Based on Core i7 Microarchitecture
Fault Tolerance Support
with AMD 3rd Generation Opteron
Windows 7* Yes Yes/Off Yes/Off
Windows Server 2008 Yes Yes/Off Yes/Off
Windows Vista Yes Yes/Off Yes/Off
Windows Server 2003 (64 bit) Yes Yes/Off
Yes/Off
Windows Server 2003 (32 bit) Yes Yes/Off
Yes/Off
(Requires Service Pack 2 or greater)
Windows XP (64 bit) Yes Yes/Off Yes/Off
Windows XP (32 bit) Yes Yes/Off No
Windows 2000 Yes/Off Yes/Off No
Windows NT 4.0 Yes/Off Yes/Off No
Linux (all ESX-supported distributions) Yes Yes/Off Yes/Off
Netware Server Yes/Off Yes/Off Yes/Off
Solaris 10 (64-bit) Yes Yes/Off
Yes/Off
(Requires Solaris U1)
Solaris 10 (32-bit) Yes Yes/Off No
FreeBSD (all ESX-supported distributions) Yes Yes/Off Yes/Off
 * requires VMware vSphere 4.0 Update 1 or greater
 
Note: System vendors are certifying that their systems work with FT. You can find details on the FT-certified systems at http://www.vmware.com/resources/compatibility. More systems are being certified all the time, so check back if your platform is not currently listed.
You can also check processor, operating system, and virtual machine configuration compliance with FT by downloading and running the VMware SiteSurvey utility from http://www.vmware.com/download/shared_utilities.html. It highlights compliance issues and describes how to correct them.
 
For more information about VMware Fault Tolerance, refer to the article: VMware Fault Tolerance FAQ (1013428)

Keywords

FT; Fault Tolerance; VMware Fault Tolerance; ESX; ESXi; processor; Guest Operating System; requirements

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Actions
  • KB Article: 1008027
  • Updated: Jul 14, 2010
  • Category
    Best Practices
  • Products:
    VMware ESX
    VMware ESXi
    VMware vCenter Server
  • Product Versions:
    VMware ESX 4.0.x
    VMware ESXi 4.0.x Embedded
    VMware ESXi 4.0.x Installable
    VMware vCenter Server 4.0.x