Use ESX4 on Nehalem with HT enabled - OR ELSE!
The results are in! I posted the following question on Twitter:
VMware Expert? Would you enable HyperThreading or not? 3 Questions, 1 minute
The results were varied and fascinating:
- 101 people clicked on the link but only 18 people responded. I guess I need to offer prizes next time.
- 16 / 18 people would turn on HT when using ESX4. Does that make it a “best” practice?
- Everyone would NOT use HT with versions of ESX before 3.5. Who’s running pre-ESX3.5 anyway?
- The consensus was that HT is a definite when ESX4 runs on Nehalem, but outside of that your mileage may vary.
This all started when I saw a presentation that showed VMmark scores for Nehalem increase by 25% when HT was used. That, for me, is a combination of the fantastic improvements the ESX scheduler geniuses have made over the years, and the undoubted leap forward by Intel’s chip fryers.
If you’re not using Nehalem in your current purchasing run, and not using ESX4 to squeeze out every penny of value from those processors, then stop reading this and GO SEEK HELP!
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