Create an EVC cluster to ensure vMotion CPU compatibility between the hosts in the cluster.

To create an EVC cluster with minimal disruption to your existing infrastructure, create an empty EVC cluster and move hosts into the cluster. To enable EVC on an existing cluster, see Enable EVC on an Existing Cluster.

Other cluster features such as vSphere DRS and vSphere HA are fully compatible with EVC. You can enable these features when you create the cluster.

Prerequisites

Verify that the hosts you intend to add to the cluster meet the requirements listed in EVC Requirements for Hosts.

Procedure

  1. Right-click a data center in the inventory and select New Cluster.
  2. Type a name for the cluster.
  3. Expand EVC and select a baseline CPU feature set from the EVC mode drop-down menu.
    Select a CPU vendor and EVC mode appropriate for the hosts that you intend to add to the cluster.
  4. (Optional) Enable DRS.
  5. (Optional) Enable vSphere HA.
  6. Click OK.
  7. Select a host to move into the cluster.
    If the host feature set is greater than the EVC mode that you enabled for the EVC cluster, power off all the virtual machines on the host, or use vMotion to migrate them to another host.
  8. Move the host into the cluster.
    You can power on the virtual machines that are on the host, or migrate virtual machines into the cluster with vMotion. The virtual machines must meet CPU compatibility requirements for the EVC mode of the cluster.

Results

You can now use vMotion to migrate virtual machines between different hosts in the cluster without encountering CPU incompatibility issues.