EVC on vsphere 6.5U1 for Intel(R) Xeon(R) CPU E5-4650 v4

[hsun8568]

Hi All,

I have a cluster on vcenter 6.5U1b includes:

- 3 host ESXi 6.5U1: Intel(R) Xeon(R) CPU E5-4650 v4 --> IP: x.x.x.1, x.x.x.2, x.x.x.3

- 1 host ESXi 5.5U2: Intel(R) Xeon(R) CPU E5-2675 v3 --> IP: x.x.x.9

I need to enable EVC on the cluster, but I cannot choose any EVC mode:

- Ivy Bridge

- Haswell

- Broadwell

Follow EVC matrix support for "Intel Xeon E5-4600-v4 Series" and " Intel Xeon E5-2600-v3 Series" with Ivy-Bridge

But I cannot enable EVC mode Ivy-Bridge for the cluster. Why ???

Thanks for your support!!!

[erikverbruggen]

To enable EVC in a existing cluster, all VM's will need to be powered off. Enable EVC on an Existing Cluster

The first screenshot gives a compatibility warning for VM's that are running and are maybe using CPU features that you are trying to hide with EVC.

[hsun8568]

Thank for your support. I will power-off VM and try to enable EVC again.

[hsun8568]

Hi erikverbruggen,

If my vcenter includes:

- 1 cluster with 3 host ESXi 6.5U1: Intel(R) Xeon(R) CPU E5-4650 v4 --> IP: x.x.x.1, x.x.x.2, x.x.x.3  --> enable EVC mode "Broadwell"

- 1 host ESXi 5.5U2: Intel(R) Xeon(R) CPU E5-2675 v3 --> IP: x.x.x.9 (out of the cluster)

then, I could migrate a VM from esxi 5.5 to the cluster.

Why can the VM (CPU E5-2675 v3 - Haswell) be migrated to the cluster (Broadwell) ?

[Finikiez]

you can easily migrate VMs from old model CPU to a new model CPU, however you can't vmotion VM from a new model CPU to an old model CPU.

If you don't have EVC enabled than VM can use new instructions when running on a new model CPU, this is why it can't be vmotioned to an old model CPU.

[hsun8568]

Hi Finikiez,

According to you: "can easily migrate VMs from old model CPU to a new model CPU".

If my vcenter includes:

- 1 cluster with 3 host ESXi 6.5U1: Intel(R) Xeon(R) CPU E5-4650 v4 --> IP: x.x.x.1, x.x.x.2, x.x.x.3  --> not enabled EVC mode "Broadwell"

- 1 host ESXi 5.5U2: Intel(R) Xeon(R) CPU E5-2675 v3 --> IP: x.x.x.9 (out of the cluster)

then, I don't migrate a VM from esxi 5.5 to the cluster.

Why ???

[Finikiez]

Do you mean - you can't vmotion VM from 5.5U2 to 6.5U1? Right?

If so - where does the error appear? Can you post a sceenshot with the error?

[hsun8568]

Hi Finikiez,

If I don't enabled EVC mode "Broadwell" for the cluster, I cannot migrate VM from old CPU - E5-2675 v3 (outsite cluster) to new CPU - E5-4650 v4 (inside cluster)

If I enabled EVC mode "Broadwell" for the cluster, I can migrate VM from old CPU - E5-2675 v3 (outsite cluster) to new CPU - E5-4650 v4 (inside cluster).

[Finikiez]

That looks strange.

If you don't want to go deeper to find a root cause, you can simply enable EVC -> vmotion VMs -> change EVC level to broadwell.

This should work.

About the issue - I would check release notes for both versions and probably check BIOS settings. Probably something is disabled on your new hosts.

[hsun8568]

Hi Finikiez

"enable EVC -> vmotion VMs -> change EVC level to broadwell."

--> enable EVC: which mode EVC ?