Adding a node to a cluster...QPI?

[jreinhart]

Hi all!

Thanks in advance for any advice/support you can provide.  Here's my situation:

I'm currently running a 4 node cluster in vCenter.  Each node is running dual Intel Xeon 5650, 6 core CPUs.

The time has come to expand that cluster to include another node.  However, upon reviewing the customization options for that node and the budget I was given for the purchase, I've noticed that I can now afford to get one of the new CPUs with Intel's QPI.

My question is - are there any forseeable issues that may arise from adding such a node to that cluster?  I've got my cluster's EVC mode set to "Intel Xeon Core i7" so according to my information I should be OK, but I'd feel more comfortable getting someone's agreement/confirmation rather than dropping a bunch of money on something that I'm not 100% sure of.

Or perhaps I'm being dense and I've missed something obvious...please point it out if so.

Thanks very much!

- Jesse Reinhart

[mcowger · Accepted solution]

QPI doesn't affect the visible registers/functions for a CPU.

As ling as the CPU supports EVC (which any QPI based CPU does) and is supported by VMware, you are good to go.  I have a QPI and non QPI CPU in my cluster at home.

[jreinhart]

Great, thanks for the quick response!

- Jesse Reinhart