HP 460c CPU comptatibility

[DJ_dshivamu]

hello

can I add below two servers in cluster with enabling EVC?

both are blades servers having BL460c Gen8 with following CPU

Intel Xeon CPU E5-2609 @ 2.4Ghz - Hyperthreading not supprted

Intel® Xeon® Processor E5-2680  -@2.70 GHz - hyper-threading supported

can i know how to identify easily which Group for CPU compatibility ? as per below article

VMware KB: vMotion CPU compatibility requirements for Intel processors

[a_p_]

The easiest way to find out about the supported EVC modes for each CPU model is to search for the server model in the VMware Compatibility Guide.

Moving the mouse over the CPU model/series will show the supported EVC modes.

André

[DJ_dshivamu]

thanks for your reply

Both are supporting EVC

As i said i do not want use the EVC option, fact is Intel xeon 2609 CPU already installed nad configured however customer ordering Intel Xeon 2680 CPU but my question is can we add second blade having xeon 2680 to cluster without enabling EVC.

[marcelo_soares]

You can also boot both servers with the CPU Identification Utility, available here: https://www.vmware.com/support/shared_utilities

It will display you what EVC modes you can use with this servers.

[DJ_dshivamu]

well that tool won't useful now becuase we yet to order the servers however vmware said if both CPU has same instruction set then we can use difference CPU without EVC.. how much this is true?

[a_p_ · Accepted solution]

According to the HCL as well as Intel Xeon Processor E5-2600 Product Family you should be able to use the CPUs in the same cluster without the need to enable EVC, as long as you are not going to mix Version1 and Version2 CPUs.

André

[marcelo_soares]

If both have the same instruction sets, and BIOSes are configured with same features enabled (VT/AMD-V, NX/XD, etc), they *should* work. Anyway if servers are in place, you can test them first with a single VM and just vmotion it from one to other and also vmotion it back to check if they are compatible. If vCenter throws you an error, enable EVC BEFORE starting to deploy production VMs.