Hello, I''m planning to buy a server in order to run Xen and provide VPS to clients. So I''ve been looking for hardware, and specially processors. I''ve found some Xeon processors that would be fine, but while searching for them in this mailing list, it seems that not all of them (with VT) are well recognized. (example: Dual Core Xeon 5130 -> http://lists.xensource.com/archives/html/xen-users/2006-11/msg01033.html). So before buying expensive hardware, could, those of you who are running Xen on big and virtualized technology enabled processors, tell me exactly what models work fine? I know there''s a compatibility list, but the newest processors don''t figure out so if you could share your experience with me I''d appreciate it :) Thank you very much! Jordi Segués _______________________________________________ Xen-users mailing list Xen-users@lists.xensource.com http://lists.xensource.com/xen-users
Petersson, Mats
2007-Feb-15 09:52 UTC
RE: [Xen-users] What CPU with VT or PACIFICA for Xen?
> -----Original Message----- > From: xen-users-bounces@lists.xensource.com > [mailto:xen-users-bounces@lists.xensource.com] On Behalf Of > Jordi Segues > Sent: 15 February 2007 00:02 > To: xen-users@lists.xensource.com > Subject: [Xen-users] What CPU with VT or PACIFICA for Xen? > > Hello, > > I''m planning to buy a server in order to run Xen and provide > VPS to clients. > So I''ve been looking for hardware, and specially processors. > > I''ve found some Xeon processors that would be fine, but while > searching for them in this mailing list, it seems that not all of them > (with VT) are well recognized. > (example: Dual Core Xeon 5130 -> > http://lists.xensource.com/archives/html/xen-users/2006-11/msg01033.html).> > So before buying expensive hardware, could, those of you who are > running Xen on big and virtualized technology enabled processors, tell > me exactly what models work fine? > > I know there''s a compatibility list, but the newest processors don''t > figure out so if you could share your experience with me I''d > appreciate it :)The "pacifica" which is now caled AMD-V is fairly easy to determine - if it uses Socket F, Socket AM2 then it''s AMD-V compatible, unless it''s a Sempron processor. Another key would be to look at the memory type, as all DDR2 processors (excluding Sempron''s again) are AMD-V capable. I''m not sure it''s really my job to do this, but Intels products are specified on http://processorfinder.intel.com - once there, you select your processor group through the selection box, then pick a processor model and you''ll find a list of "supported features" which will list the "Virtualization technology" if the processor supports it, and not if the processor doesn''t. Of course, you''ll also have to make sure the motherboard in question is supporting VT enable/disable, or you may end up finding that VT is automatically disabled... :-( -- Mats> > Thank you very much! > > Jordi Segués > > _______________________________________________ > Xen-users mailing list > Xen-users@lists.xensource.com > http://lists.xensource.com/xen-users > > >_______________________________________________ Xen-users mailing list Xen-users@lists.xensource.com http://lists.xensource.com/xen-users
You can always ask your hw vendor. They should be able to tell you definitively if their hardware supports the technology. _______________________________________________ Xen-users mailing list Xen-users@lists.xensource.com http://lists.xensource.com/xen-users
Petersson, Mats
2007-Feb-15 13:16 UTC
RE: [Xen-users] What CPU with VT or PACIFICA for Xen?
> -----Original Message----- > From: xen-users-bounces@lists.xensource.com > [mailto:xen-users-bounces@lists.xensource.com] On Behalf Of Marduk > Sent: 15 February 2007 13:15 > To: xen-users@lists.xensource.com > Subject: RE: [Xen-users] What CPU with VT or PACIFICA for Xen? > > You can always ask your hw vendor. They should be able to tell you > definitively if their hardware supports the technology.Good advice. If you get that in writing, then you have a piece of paper to shove down their throat if it doesn''t work too! (Say for example that the motherboard and processor don''t match up..) -- Mats _______________________________________________ Xen-users mailing list Xen-users@lists.xensource.com http://lists.xensource.com/xen-users
Jordi Segues wrote:> Hello, > > [...] > So before buying expensive hardware, could, those of you who are > running Xen on big and virtualized technology enabled processors, tell > me exactly what models work fine? >for the intel side I use this url http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_Intel_Xeon_microprocessors I found the list very easy to read, the VT option is easy to find. _______________________________________________ Xen-users mailing list Xen-users@lists.xensource.com http://lists.xensource.com/xen-users
Thanks for all this information. Basically I know what processors have VT technology, but apparently not all VT enabled CPU work fine with Xen, isn''t it? Someone have problems with getting VT recognized. Some one have tested the newest Xeon CPU, such Dual-core Xeon 5100 family and Quad-core Xeon E5300/X5300 with Xen? Thank you Jordi On 2/15/07, Erwan Velu <erwan@seanodes.com> wrote:> Jordi Segues wrote: > > > Hello, > > > > [...] > > So before buying expensive hardware, could, those of you who are > > running Xen on big and virtualized technology enabled processors, tell > > me exactly what models work fine? > > > > for the intel side I use this url > http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_Intel_Xeon_microprocessors > I found the list very easy to read, the VT option is easy to find. > > >_______________________________________________ Xen-users mailing list Xen-users@lists.xensource.com http://lists.xensource.com/xen-users
Petersson, Mats
2007-Feb-15 14:15 UTC
RE: [Xen-users] What CPU with VT or PACIFICA for Xen?
> -----Original Message----- > From: xen-users-bounces@lists.xensource.com > [mailto:xen-users-bounces@lists.xensource.com] On Behalf Of > Jordi Segues > Sent: 15 February 2007 14:11 > To: Erwan Velu > Cc: xen-users@lists.xensource.com > Subject: Re: [Xen-users] What CPU with VT or PACIFICA for Xen? > > Thanks for all this information. > Basically I know what processors have VT technology, but apparently > not all VT enabled CPU work fine with Xen, isn''t it? Someone have > problems with getting VT recognized.If the processor has VT enabled from the BIOS, then there should be no problem with Xen using it. If the BIOS doesn''t enable it, then it''s not going to be detected. This has nothing to do with Xen specifically, nor is it a "processor" issue, but rather a motherboard/BIOS issue. -- Mats _______________________________________________ Xen-users mailing list Xen-users@lists.xensource.com http://lists.xensource.com/xen-users
Petersson, Mats
2007-Feb-15 15:14 UTC
RE: [Xen-users] What CPU with VT or PACIFICA for Xen?
> -----Original Message----- > From: xen-users-bounces@lists.xensource.com > [mailto:xen-users-bounces@lists.xensource.com] On Behalf Of > Gerhard Wendebourg > Sent: 15 February 2007 15:53 > Cc: xen-users@lists.xensource.com > Subject: Re: [Xen-users] What CPU with VT or PACIFICA for Xen? > > Petersson, Mats schrieb: > > > > > > > >> -----Original Message----- > >> From: xen-users-bounces@lists.xensource.com > >> [mailto:xen-users-bounces@lists.xensource.com] On Behalf Of Marduk > >> Sent: 15 February 2007 13:15 > >> To: xen-users@lists.xensource.com > >> Subject: RE: [Xen-users] What CPU with VT or PACIFICA for Xen? > >> > >> You can always ask your hw vendor. They should be able to tell you > >> definitively if their hardware supports the technology. > >> > I tried this several times, but I didn''t met anyone of the > vendors, who > sell cpu''s, who even knew about virtualization, and if I told of > Pacifica or like that, it was like they heard the word for the first > time. Also I tried that kind of reqest directed to the > manufacturer itself. > But here the same: no specifications available, no one of the staff > knowing about Pacifica. > Maybe they don''t like to be bound to any claim of ability of > their cpu''s.Since "Pacifica" is an internal AMD codename, there was NEVER any product out untill AFTER this was renamed to SVM or AMD-V - there are specs for this in the Vol. 2 of AMD64 Architecture Programmers Manual on the AMD web-site. What different distributors know and don''t is of course nothing that I can do much about, but I can try to help clarify the documentation issue. I''m also fairly sure that you''d get a decent answer if you call the european tech-support that sits one floor above me. Whether that holds for the US, Asia or anywhere else I can''t really answer... [It does of course depend a little bit on who you get, since most tech-support jobs are fairly short-term (it''s not the most interesting or well-paid position compared), you may get someone who just started, or someone that''s been there for a while - the result depends on which one you get...) I can also guarantee that if you buy an AMD CPU that has DDR-2 memory (excluding the Sempron brand ones) on a stable motherboard, it will work with Xen. Of course, different problems with distributions and setup issues excluded from that guarantee, as that is NOT something that any CPU manufacturer can fix as such. -- Mats _______________________________________________ Xen-users mailing list Xen-users@lists.xensource.com http://lists.xensource.com/xen-users
Gerhard Wendebourg
2007-Feb-15 15:53 UTC
Re: [Xen-users] What CPU with VT or PACIFICA for Xen?
Petersson, Mats schrieb:> > > >> -----Original Message----- >> From: xen-users-bounces@lists.xensource.com >> [mailto:xen-users-bounces@lists.xensource.com] On Behalf Of Marduk >> Sent: 15 February 2007 13:15 >> To: xen-users@lists.xensource.com >> Subject: RE: [Xen-users] What CPU with VT or PACIFICA for Xen? >> >> You can always ask your hw vendor. They should be able to tell you >> definitively if their hardware supports the technology. >>I tried this several times, but I didn''t met anyone of the vendors, who sell cpu''s, who even knew about virtualization, and if I told of Pacifica or like that, it was like they heard the word for the first time. Also I tried that kind of reqest directed to the manufacturer itself. But here the same: no specifications available, no one of the staff knowing about Pacifica. Maybe they don''t like to be bound to any claim of ability of their cpu''s. This was about three month ago. Don''t know, if it had changed since then. The only testimonial, I would trust to, is if I hear of some people, who are running it successfully, having precise description of the environment, they use.> Good advice. If you get that in writing, then you have a piece of paper > to shove down their throat if it doesn''t work too! (Say for example that > the motherboard and processor don''t match up..) > > -- > Mats > > > > _______________________________________________ > Xen-users mailing list > Xen-users@lists.xensource.com > http://lists.xensource.com/xen-users > >_______________________________________________ Xen-users mailing list Xen-users@lists.xensource.com http://lists.xensource.com/xen-users
Hi, Hopefully you will not mind clarifying that for SVM/AMD-V on AMD processors, there is no need for BIOS support unlike Intel''s VT? or better put; any AM2 or Socket F processor with DDR2 aslong as it''s NOT a Sempron will have AMD-V and there is no need for BIOS support. Maybe this could go in the Xen-Wiki to save the question popping up again? Thanks! -- Kimi _______________________________________________ Xen-users mailing list Xen-users@lists.xensource.com http://lists.xensource.com/xen-users
On Thu, Feb 15, 2007 at 03:11:21PM +0100, Jordi Segues wrote:> Thanks for all this information. > Basically I know what processors have VT technology, but apparently > not all VT enabled CPU work fine with Xen, isn''t it? Someone have > problems with getting VT recognized. > > Some one have tested the newest Xeon CPU, such Dual-core Xeon 5100 > family and Quad-core Xeon E5300/X5300 with Xen?We use HP DL360G5 and HP DL380G5 Servers running Xen in a production environment. No problems so far (but we only use paravirtualized domains). $ cat /proc/cpuinfo processor : 0 vendor_id : GenuineIntel cpu family : 6 model : 15 model name : Intel(R) Xeon(R) CPU 5160 @ 3.00GHz stepping : 6 cpu MHz : 3000.192 cache size : 4096 KB physical id : 0 siblings : 1 core id : 0 cpu cores : 1 fpu : yes fpu_exception : yes cpuid level : 10 wp : yes flags : fpu tsc msr pae mce cx8 apic mtrr mca cmov pat pse36 clflush dts acpi mmx fxsr sse sse2 ss ht tm syscall nx lm constant_tsc pni monitor ds_cpl vmx est tm2 cx16 xtpr lahf_lm bogomips : 6003.14 clflush size : 64 cache_alignment : 64 address sizes : 36 bits physical, 48 bits virtual power management: # xm dmesg | grep VMXON (XEN) VMXON is done (XEN) VMXON is done (XEN) VMXON is done (XEN) VMXON is done _______________________________________________ Xen-users mailing list Xen-users@lists.xensource.com http://lists.xensource.com/xen-users