I have a test box that I am using to test the best configuration of ESX for use with our software product - on a physical server our product normally performs better with NUMA off and Hyperthreading off, we use large amounts of RAM and CPU so these settings are important. So on ESX i want to test all the various combinations and compare the results. Im using Windows Vms on this
Now in ESX 5.0 i tested everything fine, then i upgraded the ESX box to ESX 5.1 and now i have the below problem.
HT off Numa off - all servers work fine and stable
HT off Numa on - all servers work fine and stable
HT on Numa on - all servers work fine and stable
HT on Numa off - server very unstable, gets to the "windows booting" screens but the little progress bar can barely render itself and it never actually boots.
Before i rollback the ESX upgrade is there anything else i can look at here? Possible bug, hardware issue etc?