Another post on Windows Failover Clustering, but this one isn’t so pretty by comparison to my last post.
Recently on a 3 node Failover Cluster we were presented with a little warning that a node failure would cause the cluster service to stop and that the cluster configuration should be checked.
Well in a 3 node cluster the correct Quorum setting for an odd number of nodes is Node Majority and after double checking this was set correctly, that comms between all the nodes was in place and working and also running the Validation tool we were satisfied the configuration was indeed correct.
Obviously the last thing you want to risk is assuming the error is erroneous and then find that when a node fails the cluster also stops.
Satisfied the configuration was correct we presented the issue to Microsoft Support. The suggestion and indeed the resolution was as follows:
- Add a Witness disk to the cluster
- Change the Cluster Quorum setting to Node and Disk Majority
- Change the Cluster Quorum setting back to Node Majority
We didn’t get a reason for why this happens other than sometimes it does and switching to another Quorum setting and back again generally resolves the issue.
Hopefully this will save some people some head scratching and the need to contact MS support.
For full details on the correct Quorum configuration for Failover Clusters refer to the Technet Article: http://technet.microsoft.com/en-gb/library/cc770620%28v=ws.10%29.aspx
James