EVC baseline for Intel Xeon 32nm Core i7

[dalemarshall]

Hi all,

I have a two node cluster, the processors in each node are Inter Xeon CPU x5660.

I believe that in order to get EVC compatibility working with these processors I need to apply update 1 or later. I've actually applied update 2 and I still don't get the option to apply the Intel Xeon 32nm Core i7 baseline.

Is there some part of the process I'm missing to make this option available?

Many Thanks,

[AntonVZhbankov]

If all your hosts are with the same CPUs you don't even need EVC.

---

MCSA, MCTS Hyper-V, VCP 3/4, VMware vExpert

http://blog.vadmin.ru

[f10]

Hi,

Are options like Intel VT and No execute memory enabled in the server bios, also check http://kb.vmware.com/kb/1003212 for more info.

If you found this or other information useful, please consider awarding points for "Correct" or "Helpful".

f10

VCP3,VCP4,HP UX CSA

[dalemarshall]

Well thats what I thought, but if I try migrating the machine I get the "Host CPU is incompatible with the virtual machines requirements CPUID level 0x1 register 'ecx'" error.

The processors are both definitely the same, VT is also enabled on both servers. These are Dell servers and there doesn't appear to be a no memory execute option but there is an "Execute disabled" option which is set to enabled.

[AmadSeni]

did you manage to sort this out? i'm having exact same issue. just got 2 x Dell PowerEdge R710 with X5660 CPU on both and getting same error when trying to vmotion. all options on bios are correct though.

bios is latest version on all hosts, settings in bios also identical.

[dalemarshall]

We've applied update 2 and vMotion still doesn't work.

Update 2 has added Intel Xeon 32nm Core i7 baselines to EVC now, however just one of the hosts still says it's incompatible, depite the other host being the exact same spec being fine.

Still working on a resolution. I'll let you know if I find anything interesting.

[AmadSeni]

Problem solved; what model of server do you have?

[dalemarshall]

Exactly the same as yours - 2 x Dell PowerEdge R710 with X5660 CPU on both

How did you resolve it?

[AmadSeni · Accepted solution]

Had to downgrade BIOS - appears that versions 2.1.9 and 2.1.15 are buggy..

the only one that has worked without any issues is: 2.1.3

get it from here: ftp://ftp.us.dell.com/bios/R710-020013C.exe

now vmotion, etc works perfectly.

[dalemarshall]

Spot on that, worked perfectly. Thanks!

[poyler]

BIOS downgrade worked great, wish I hadn't called tech support before trying this.

[wcwong]

Our Dell SE found that the issue was around the new AES-NI instruction in the Westmere CPUs. 2.1.9 and 2.1.15 wasn't always doing the right thing.

The latest BIOS (2.2.10) that was released yesterday is supposed to resolve this problem.

[AmadSeni]

Ok thx, will test this for a while before applying onto the servers we have already deployed..