To simplify vMotion across CPU generations VMware has introduced Enhanced vMotion Compatibility (EVC). EVC automatically configures server CPUs with Intel FlexMigration or AMD-V Extended Migration technologies to be compatible with older servers. In vSphere 7.0 a new EVC mode has been introduced.
Intel Cascade Lake Generation
Compared to Intel Skylake EVC mode, the Cascade Lake EVC mode exposes additional CPU features:
- AVX-512 Vector Neural Network Instructions (AVX512VNNI)
- XGETBV with ECX=1 (XGETBV_ECX1)
- The processor is not susceptible to Rogue Data Cache Load (RDCL_NO)
- Enhanced Indirect Branch Restricted Speculation (IBRS_ALL)
- The Processor is not susceptible to Microarchitectural Data Sampling (MDS_NO)
CPU Series
The following CPU Series can be configured with EVC Mode Cascade Lake:
- Intel Xeon Bronze 3200 Series
- Intel Xeon Silver 4200 Series
- Intel Xeon Gold 5200 Series
- Intel Xeon Gold 6200 Series
- Intel Xeon Platinum 8200 Series
For more information about EVC Modes see Intel CPU EVC Matrix