Specifications

April 2012 v1 AMD Opteron™ 6200 Linux Tuning Guide
16
3.2 Linux Kernel Versions and Distributions
For best possible performance, you should use an enabled Linux kernel version or distribution that fully
supports and enables the new features of the AMD Opteron™ 4200/6200 Series processors. The following
graphic shows AMD Opteron™ 4200/6200 Series processors OS support options:
Assumes latest updates/patches are installed*
ENABLED
Optimized to support some or
all of the features of AMD’s
new core architecture
COMPATIBLE
Will boot and run but not take
advantage of the features of
AMD’s new core architecture
outside of new instructions
NOT SUPPORTED
Will not run on platforms based on
AMD’s new core architecture and/
or will not be supported by OSV
Includes new instruction support:
Linux kernel 2.6.37 + , 3.0 +
Novell SLES 11 SP2 (includes Xen)
RHEL 6.2 with KVM (with latest z-
stream patches)
Windows Server 2008 R2 SP1 (optional
scheduler patch available)
Windows Server 2012/Hyper-V (in
development)
Xen 4.1 +
Ubuntu 11.04 (w/ KVM)
VMware vSphere 5.0
Versions in this category also include
latest software advances.
Includes new instruction support:
Linux kernel 2.6.32 – 2.6.36
Novell SLES 11 SP1
RHEL 6.1
Ubuntu 10.10
Does not support new instructions for
either AMD or Intel’s new core architec-
tures (formerly code-named “Bulldozer”
and “Sandy Bridge”):
Hyper-V R1
Hyper-V R2, Hyper-V R2 SP1
Novell SLES 10 SP4 and higher
RHEL 5.7 (included KVM)
Solaris 10u9, 11
VMware vSphere 4.1u2
Windows Server 2003 R2 SP2
Windows Server 2008 R2
Windows Server 2008 SP2
Xen 3.4.2
Versions in this category also include
latest software advances.
Linux kernel 2.6.31 or earlier
Novell SLES 10 thru SP3
Novell SLES 11
RHEL 4.x
RHEL 5.0 – 5.5
RHEL 5.6 (can run with patches but is
not supported by Red Hat)
RHEL 6.0
Solaris 10 – 10u8
VMware ESX 3.5
VMware ESX 4.0 – 4.1u1
Windows Server 2003 versions prior to
R2 SP2
The following list shows the kernel versions and distributions that take advantage of AMD’s new core
architecture and instructions and support one or more of these processors’ new features.
Enabled Linux kernel releases and distributions include:
• Linux kernel 2.6.32.46 (longterm release).
• Linux kernel 2.6.33.19 (longterm release).
• Linux kernel 2.6.34.10 (longterm release).
• Linux kernel 2.6.35.14 (longterm release).
• Linux kernel 2.6.36.3 (snapshot release).
• Linux kernel 2.6.37.6 and higher
• Linux kernel 3.
• Novell SUSE Linux Enterprise Server (SLES) 11 SP2 (includes Xen 4.1 and KVM).
• Red Hat Enterprise Linux (RHEL) 6.2 (includes KVM) and Red Hat Enterprise Linux derivatives CentOS 6.2
and Scientific Linux 6.2.
• Ubuntu 11.04 (includes KVM).