Pop Quiz
Pop Quiz: Windows 2008 Clustering (Exam 70-646)
Figuring out quorum configuration.
Question: You're configuring a failover cluster for a Web server. You're assigning four nodes to the cluster. All nodes have access to a SAN and there's adequate space available. Which of the following options should you choose for your quorum configuration?
a. Node Majority
b. Node and Disk Majority
c. Node and File Share Majority
d. No Majority: Disk Only
Answer
B. Node and Disk Majority is the most common for failover clusters that have an even number of nodes with plenty of shared storage.
With Node and Disk Majority clusters, the cluster uses a witness disk as the tiebreaker node and the cluster runs as long as there's a majority of nodes online and available.
A witness disk used with Windows Server 2008 clustering is a shared volume that contains a copy of the cluster-configuration database. The quorum configuration determines the number of node failures that a failover cluster can sustain before the cluster should stop running.
Tip: The No Majority: Disk Only quorum configuration requires that only a single node and its storage remain online.
Tech Reference: "What's New in Failover Clusters in Windows Server 2008," TechNet Library.
About the Author
Andy Barkl, CCNP, CCDP, CISSP, MCT, MVP, MCDST, MCSE: Security, MCSA: Security, MCSA: Messaging A+, CTT+, i-Net+, Network+, Security+, Server+, CNA, has over 20 years of experience in the IT field. He's the owner of MCT & Associates LLC, a technical training and consulting firm in Phoenix, Arizona. He enjoys dividing his time between teaching in the classroom, writing from his office and consulting on Cisco and Windows deployments. He's also the online editor for MCPMag.com, TCPMag.com, CertCities.com, and a contributing author and editor for Sybex and Cisco Press. He hosts a multitude of exam preparation chats monthly on MCPmag.com and CertCities.com.