Why might a vSphere operator only configure up to two virtual CPUs when deploying a new virtual machine?

The reason for configuring only up to two virtual CPUs when deploying a new virtual machine could be due to the constraints of the selected ESXi host. If the ESXi host has only two physical CPUs available or if its licensing limits the number of virtual CPUs that can be assigned to virtual machines, the vSphere operator must adhere to this limitation.

In operational scenarios, various constraints might dictate the maximum virtual CPU configuration for a VM. For example, if a particular host is configured to allow only two CPUs for virtualization or if the hardware resources are insufficient for assigning more than two virtual CPUs, this will lead to a direct limit on the number of virtual CPUs available for deployment.

Other factors like the cluster not being in DRS mode would generally not limit the number of virtual CPUs that can be assigned; rather, it would pertain more to resource management issues. While the option mentioning the maximum of 2 CPUs that VMs support seems plausible, in fact, virtual machines can support many more CPUs than 2, especially in newer versions of ESXi and vCenter. Lastly, compatibility selections do define the features available but do not typically impose a hard limit on the number of CPUs when deploying a VM. Thus, the constraint imposed by the ESXi host