Intel Xeon Processor E5540 does not support VMs in FreeNAS/FreeNAS Corral :(

[mindaugas.st]

it's very sad news....
Intel® Xeon® Processor E5540 spec: it supports all types of VT
https://ark.intel.com/products/37104/Intel-Xeon-Processor-E5540-8M-Cache-2_53-GHz-5_86-GTs-Intel-QPI

In FreeNAS Corral by creating new VM's i'm getting theese errors:

Description
Cannot start VM windows - only BHYVELOAD is supported for VT-x without unrestricted guest feature.

Task Name
vm.start

State
FAILED

 

[Chris Moore]

That has nothing to do with Corral and everything to do with that processor being very OLD and not having full implementation of virtualization.

Additionally, you should not be trying to use Corral due to the fact is is no longer supported.

 

[mindaugas.st]

Are some ways to use FreeNAS on this CPU?

 

[Chris Moore]

are some ways to use freenas on this cpu?

FreeNAS will work fine on that CPU, but what you're talking about is virtualization. That CPU doesn't have proper virtualization support. If you want to virtualize anything you're going to need a newer CPU.


Sent from my SAMSUNG-SGH-I537 using Tapatalk

 

[mindaugas.st]

Yeah FreeNAS working... but created VMs do not work...

 

[nightshade00013]

I believe that you have to have at least a 5600 version to support virtual machines correctly. I have E5640's and it works just fine for everything I have used. The 5600 series is about a year newer than the 5500 series. It could also be an issue with Corral so switching to 11 might be a stopgap but I kinda doubt it.

Otherwise you will need to upgrade to a newer system.

 

[Dice]

I believe that you have to have at least a 5600 version to support virtual machines correctly. I have E5640's and it works just fine for everything I have used.

I ran a pair of L5630 that also did great. I put ESXi as fundament and goodies ontop.

However I take note that the L5630 and OP's E5540 have the same flags on virtualization as per the intel ark..

 

[nightshade00013]

The major difference that I saw between the two is the "trusted computing" portion. I think this may have something to do with the issue.

http://cpuboss.com/cpus/Intel-Xeon-E5640-vs-Intel-Xeon-E5540 Scroll down for the comparison of specs

 

[Linkman]

I thought the difference was that the older CPUs could not support nested virtualization?

 

[Ericloewe]

If they're old enough, they won't do VMs at all.

 

[BigBin]

I built my first FreeNAS a dual E5640 system because the parts were extremely cheap on ebay. However very quickly I realized the performance/dollar bargain will soon be outweighed by the electricity it costs.

passmark for the dual processor is 8848, similar performance skylake/kabylake i3/i5 system will costs something anywhere from $250 to $350 more.

power consumption for dual xeon is around 150-160w idle, for i5 system will be around 30-40w idle. 100w difference in my area will cost a little over $100 annually, so in less than 3 years this old system will actually cost more, potential cooling issue, noise, etc.

In the end I just decided to sell the parts and try starting a new system. Not sure what your situation is but this is just data point from me.

 

[Dice]

Not sure what your situation is but this is just data point from me.

I did pretty much the same.. I was drug in by the RAM capacity of the x8 series dual prop setups.
Then realized that noise and power costs were more important to me than the initial priorities got credit for.
Thing is still sitting in a box.

 

[Chris Moore]

I did pretty much the same.. I was drug in by the RAM capacity of the x8 series dual prop setups.
Then realized that noise and power costs were more important to me than the initial priorities got credit for.
Thing is still sitting in a box.

Don't let that server chassis go to waste. Rip the old board out and sell it on eBay. Replace the original fans with quiet fans and put a new system board in it. Those hot-swap bays are valuable. Just look at what it would cost to buy a hot-swap mount to put in a regular PC case. The lowest price I can find for even a used one is 4 bays for $25, so if you have a 16 bay chassis, that alone is worth at least $100 and if you factor in the hot swap power supplies, it is worth $150 at the very least. Even if you don't use it, sell it to someone that will.

 

[amiskell]

The major difference that I saw between the two is the "trusted computing" portion. I think this may have something to do with the issue.

http://cpuboss.com/cpus/Intel-Xeon-E5640-vs-Intel-Xeon-E5540 Scroll down for the comparison of specs

5500 series processors are missing the "unrestricted guest" feature, which is a *requirement* for bhyve to operate properly. This feature wasn't introduced until the Westmere series of processors. All Nehalem series processors don't have this capability.

 

[Dice]

Don't let that server chassis go to waste.

thnks. I'll get into using it sooner or later.
It's an SCE847. Came with Gold PSUs noisy AF. Got 2x platinum 1280 PSUs on the shelf. Since it has SAS2 expander backplane I'm not really not concerned about its future proofing. For any foreseeable future it'll be good.
Still very happy to own the case even if it is not in use currently. It sort of diffuses all sort of hardware perks merely by owning it :D