Can I upgrade the CPU?
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We have a Dell PowerEdge 2850 server that we're looking to do run some virtual servers on. Based on our research Xenserver is the best fit for our business needs. The 2850 supports a 64bit OS, but doesn't seem to support hardware virtualization. I thought all 64bit chips support hardware virtualization? Is there a bios upgrade or something I can do to get Xenserver working?
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Possibly -- it depends on what CPU(s) you currently have installed. But NONE of the CPU's that are supported by the 2850 have hardware virtualization support ... so upgrading to a faster CPU won't help.
You simply cannot run XenServer on this system with Windows virtual machines [You CAN run it with Linux virtual machines --- see page 3 of the installation guide: http://support.citrix.com/
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by: garycasePosted on 2009-07-01 at 01:17:04ID: 24752371
Nothing you can do. The PowerEdge 2850 does not have a CPU with hardware virtualization -- and hardware virtualization is required for XenServer.
... there are MANY 64-bit CPUs that do not have hardware virtualization support.