use different physical cpu in a cluster

[Bab]

hi i have more that 20 servers now i see their model all of them has same model

Intel Xeon E5-2600 Series

and see this in vmware fot that model

VMware Compatibility Guide - cpu

and now i have a server with this cpu model:

Intel Xeon E5-2600-v2 Series

VMware Compatibility Guide - cpu

i understand this :

1 - Intel Xeon E5-2600 Series is a SandyBridge-EP 2S  and Intel Xeon E5-2600-v2 Series  is IvyBridge EP  and Intel Xeon E5-2600 Series can not support  IvyBridge now i think we can not put these kind of cpus in one cluster with EVC

Is this correct ?

and the other question that i think is :

2 - i think if put these 2 kind of different servers on a cluster with EVC mode my vm can migrate from E5-2600 to E5-2600-v2 but can not migrate from E5-2600-v2 to E5-2600  is this correct ?

[Bab]

‌please help me just for those 2 questions

[ThompsG]

Hi baber,

The maximum EVC mode that you can run with both these processor types in the same cluster is "Intel Sandy Bridge Generation" so to answer your questions:

1. Correct you cannot run the EVC cluster with "Ivy Bridge" compatibility however you can create the cluster with "Sandy Bridge"
2. If you create the EVC cluster with "Sandy Bridge" then you can vmotion happily backwards and forwards between both processor types as the differences will be masked from the VM's

Hope this helps :smileyhappy:

[Bab]

so thanks

but i want to know if add this server

http://www.vmware.com/resources/compatibility/detail.php?deviceCategory=cpu&productid=24&deviceCategory=cpu&details=1&releases=275&cpu_series=92,91,86,72,4,5,66,83,93,13,95,103,88,87,94,80,99,54,55,1,3,2,7,8,9,10,59,12,11,60,17,18,19,20,21,22,24,23,26,27,28,29,30,31,102,6,81,96,61,67,75,101,110,118,98,97,107,63,117,108,113,56,71,106,25,68,84,111,62,69,105,114,32,64,65,85,116,77,16,14,15&evc_modes=17,14,13,3,5,4,2,6&ft_compsets=14,13,10,9,12,11&page=2&display_interval=10&sortColumn=Partner&sortOrder=Asc

to previous servers

now 2 question :

1-do i have to set EVC mode on Intel® Westmere Generation ?

2 - if i put on this mode can migrate all vms between 3 hosts  ?

3 - i am confused if one of my host is G9 with Haswell-EP and the other is G7 with Westmere-EP now if i set evc on Haswell-EP will it migrate easily ?

4 - is you means that if we select lowest host or cpu mode on evc is that ok?

Best regards

[ThompsG]

Hi,

Basically you set EVC to the maximum EVC baseline that is common across all processor types in the cluster. With the three processors you have mentioned this will be the Westmere as this is supported on all three processor generations and is the maximum for the Intel Xeon 56xx Series you reference. You could even choose Merom, Penryn and Nehalem if you think you might even have older generation processor types enter this cluster in the future but certain CPU instructions that you could actually support will be masked and removed if you do this.

If you set this for the cluster then hosts which are added to this cluster will mask out CPU instructions which are not supported or compatible between processors so that VMotion will be guaranteed between hosts of different generations.

So to try answering your questions:

1. Do I have to set EVC mode on Intel Westmere Generation? Yes if you want all three processor types in the same cluster and to be able to vMotion guests across them successfully.
2. If I put on this mode can migrate all vms between 3 hosts? Yes
3. i am confused if one of my host is G9 with Haswell-EP and the other is G7 with Westmere-EP now if i set evc on Haswell-EP will it migrate easily ? You cannot have a Haswell and Westmere generation processor in the same cluster if EVC mode is set to Haswell. You will not be able to add the Westmere processor as it will not have the same CPU features and therefore vMotion cannot be guaranteed between hosts.
4. is you means that if we select lowest host or cpu mode on evc is that ok? Correct - select a EVC mode that that is common between all processor types that will enter the cluster. I try to select the highest mode to get the most out of the processors however as mentioned before, if it is likely you will add even older processor generations then select a lower baseline to support this.

Trust this helps?

[Bab]

thanks but an important question that i have above i have 4 server  2 of my servers are G8 and one of them is G7 and the other is G9

This is G9 Server (Intel Xeon E5-2400-v3 Series)

VMware Compatibility Guide - cpu

---------------

This is G7 server (Intel Xeon 56xx Series) :

http://www.vmware.com/resources/compatibility/detail.php?deviceCategory=cpu&productid=24&deviceCategory=cpu&details=1&releases=275&cpu_series=92,91,86,72,4,5,66,83,93,13,95,103,88,87,94,80,99,54,55,1,3,2,7,8,9,10,59,12,11,60,17,18,19,20,21,22,24,23,26,27,28,29,30,31,102,6,81,96,61,67,75,101,110,118,98,97,107,63,117,108,113,56,71,106,25,68,84,111,62,69,105,114,32,64,65,85,116,77,16,14,15&evc_modes=17,14,13,3,5,4,2,6&ft_compsets=14,13,10,9,12,11&page=2&display_interval=10&sortColumn=Partner&sortOrder=Asc

and these are G8 server (Intel Xeon E5-2600 Series , Intel Xeon E5-2600-v2 Series)

VMware Compatibility Guide - cpu

https://www.vmware.com/resources/compatibility/detail.php?deviceCategory=cpu&productid=68&vcl=true

now my highest server model is G9 with Haswell-EN cpu and my lowest server is G7 with Westmere-EP cpu now if i want put all of these 4 servers in a cluster have to select  Westmere-EP ?

if yes

actually my G9 server's feature is more than G7 , G8 but if select Westmere-EP on evc mode most of cpu feature on G9 will be hidden is this correct ?

1- my main question is if i select Westmere-EP for evc mode i can add all of hp geneation server to that from G7 to G9 because all of them support

Intel® Westmere Generation is that correct  ?

2 - if i want put all of my host in one cluster is that correct select lowest cpu generation such as Intel® Westmere Generation in all plans ?

BR

[ThompsG]

Correct - select Westmere Generation and all your currently different processor generations can be in the same cluster.

Kind regards.