ESXi

HI,

I have a few questions regarding enabling EVC for our ESXi 5 cluster which has Intel x5560 CPUs.  We woud like to enable

Intel Westmere Gen (Xeon 32NM Core I7) EVC mode.

1. We VMotioned several VMs from an old cluster that was using AMD CPUs in the hosts.  This old cluster DID NOT have EVC enabled.  WIth that said, do I still need to migrate these VMs off to another cluster before I can enable EVC since EVC was not enabled in the old cluster?  My understanding is that I should not have to shut down these VMs.

2. Is there a way to tell if Intel VT and Intel eXecute Disable (XD) is enabled without restarting the host and getting into the bios?

3. The docs were not clear on this, but is there any downtime associated with enabling EVC?

Thanks!

If you are changing base line, to be enabled in the vm, vm requires a reboot.

http://pubs.vmware.com/vsphere-4-esx-vcenter/index.jsp?topic=/com.vmware.vsphere.dcadmin.doc_41/vsp_dc_admin_guide/migrating_virtual_machines/t_change_evc_mode.html

Hi regarding powering off the VMs to get access to the features, is this still applicable if EVC is not enabled at all? It does not specify exactly.

KDubb wrote:

2. Is there a way to tell if Intel VT and Intel eXecute Disable (XD) is enabled without restarting the host and getting into the bios?

You could check the vmware.log file in some VMs folder to see if VT is enabled:

http://virtualizationeh.ca/2010/11/23/checking-vsphere-monitor-modes-and-performance-implications/

Hi,

Thanks for your quick responses. I have verified that Intel VT is enabled via the VMware Logs per the article, but what about Intel eXecute Disable (XD)?

Thanks!

KDubb wrote:

what about Intel eXecute Disable (XD)?

You could try this command inside a Windows VM:

wmic OS Get DataExecutionPrevention_Available

Good thinking!  Thanks!

little confusion...

As you mentioned you were using AMD and now you planning to migrate to intel platform??

Vmotioned is not supported between intel and AMD??

correct me if my understanding of question is wrong??

We do not currently have EVC enabled.  Our old cluster which was on the AMD platform did not have EVC enabled.  We VMotioned some of the VMs on the old cluster to the new cluster and they are currently up and running without issue.  My question was if this will be an issue with enabling EVC on the new cluster and these VMs even though they did not have EVC enabled in the first place.  Does that answer your question?