ESXi server CPU swap

[ingelberts]

Hi,

 

for my business I use an old HP ProLiant DL380e G8 server to run 5 Win10 vms on ESXi.

Currently it has a single -pretty lackluster- quadcore, non-HT, non-TB 2.2Ghz Xeon E5-2407 in it and let me tell you, it chugs big time.
So the other day I was able to pick up a Xeon E5-2470 v2 for a mere $75 at a liquidation auction, which according to the documentation on the server should be supported by it.
By contrast this thing has 10 cores, 20 threads at higher base clocks and supports Turbo Boost 2.0, needless to say I'm pretty chuffed.

Now I know since they're different CPU's I wont be able to run them both on the same board so I'll have to swap them out.

However I'm very inexperienced when it comes to ESXi.

Are there any steps I have to take before performing the physical swap to make sure ESXi and my client vms will still work afterwards?

Or can I just shut down the server, swap the CPUs and reboot?

Any other things I should be aware of before moving forward?

Any and all advice welcome and appreciated.

Thanks!

 

[Windows7ge]

Socket LGA1356 is a little old for what I know but for the most part it should be as simple as replace the chip and you're good to go.

 

Only thing I can immediately think of is making sure VT-x and/or VT-d are enabled before booting ESXi as those are important. If you're passing though PCI_e devices to the VMs you may also want to make sure your settings regarding IOMMU haven't changed.

 

Older hardware is generally pickier so you'll probably want identical model chips when running both sockets.

[NoxOps]

I do it all the time, shut the vm's down, shutdown the host, swap CPU's, turn on on the server and that's it.

[BloodKnight7]

2 hours ago, NoxOps said:

I do it all the time, shut the vm's down, shutdown the host, swap CPU's, turn on on the server and that's it.

Agreed, your VMs will never know the difference!