Clarity on EVC configuration with different Intel CPU generations

[aj800]

We have a mixture of HPE Gen 8 servers and Gen 10 servers in a single vSphere 6.5 cluster (all hosts and the VCSA are running 6.5). The Gen 10 servers are  using "Intel(R) Xeon(R) Gold 5115 CPU @ 2.40GHz", which I believe is the Skylake generation family, while the Gen 8 servers are using "Intel(R) Xeon(R) CPU E5-2660 0 @ 2.20GHz", which I believe is Sandy Bridge.

To allow the best cooperation between these in a single host cluster, what should the EVC mode be set to... Skylake or Sandy Bridge?  (Is it the minimum or the maximum?)

[scott28tt]

Your mode will need to be based on the oldest CPU.

See here: VMware Knowledge Base

[aj800]

Thanks.  So, as it stands, EVC is disabled, and it appears we should be setting this to Sandy Bridge.  Is that correct?  How do we apply this... do we need to remove the hosts from the cluster?  There only 2 hosts in this cluster.  What is the best way to go about enabling WMware EVC?  Also, what if we eventually upgrade the 2 Gen 8 servers to Gen 10?  Can we change the EVC level without any impact or do we need to remove the hosts from the cluster, or start a new one and move them to it?

[scott28tt]

Answers are in the EVC section of the documentation: Enable EVC on an Existing Cluster