XenServer 8 and the Processor support question

[Glyn Burton]

Hello Forum Members,

 

XenServer 8's release notes advises that certain "legacy" processors are no longer supported.  In my case, that would be the Nehalem family.

 

I have crossed-referenced the network and storage controller and they remain supported.  However, going back to 7.0 (the earliest selection on the HCL check site) it appears my ProLiant DL380 G6 was never supported!  So it begs the question; will XenServer 8 refuse to run these processors or is it just that Citrix are not offering support for users of such processors?

 

In short, can I upgrade from 7.4 to 8.0?

 

Thank you for your consideration,

 

Glyn B.,

[Alan Lantz]

Yes, falling from the supported list doesn't mean it won't work. That is where having a pool of like servers

comes in handy. You can kick one out of the pool for testing, 

 

--Alan--

 

[Glyn Burton]

Thank you taking the time to answer.  Alas this is my personal server at home; an ex-works one, hence why it is so old!  And no pool option for me - the wife barely tolerates this one.

 

So XenServer losing support does not mean they have baked-in code which actively refuses to run on a given processor?  (Such as when AMD / Intel released 7th generation processors during Windows 7 era causing a mass of "Unsupported Hardware" posts).

 

Regards,

 

Glyn B.,

[Alan Lantz]

Not usually, but it not working is a possibility. 

 

--Alan--

 

[Tobias Kreidl]

I have run CH 8.0 on a 10+-year-old Dell R200 with success. They use Xeon 3000 and 3200 chips which are pre-Nehalem (3400 series).

 

-=Tobias

[Glyn Burton]

Many thanks for taking the time to answer (and hopefully help future XenServer users seeking this very question).  Also to Tobias for sharing your real-world experience of running it on elderly tin, I'm somewhat more confident to proceed now and good to know there's life left in my server :-)