You maintain three datacenters in different geographical regions. You have a four-node failover cluster that hosts a Microsoft SQL Server Failover Cluster Instance (FCI) in DatacenteM. You must extend FCI to add four nodes in Datacenter2.
You need to configure a node majority quorum mode for the cluster.
What are the two possible ways to achieve the goal? Each correct answer presents a complete solution.
NOTE: Each correct selection is worth one point.
A . Use a cloud quorum witness that is hosted in Microsoft Azure.
B . Use a disk witness that is hosted in Datacenter1.
C . Use a disk witness that is hosted in Datacenter2.
D . Use no witness.
E . Use a file share witness that is hosted in Datacenter3.
Answer: A,E
Explanation:
A: Cloud Witness is a type of Failover Cluster quorum witness that uses Microsoft Azure to provide a vote on cluster quorum.
Cloud Witness is a new type of Failover Cluster quorum witness that leverages Microsoft Azure as the arbitration point (figure below).
Figure: Multi-site stretched clusters with Cloud Witness as a quorum witness
As shown in the figure, there is no third separate site that is required. Cloud Witness, like any other quorum witness, gets a vote and can participate in quorum calculations.
E: The figure below illustrates a multi-site stretched Failover Cluster quorum configuration with Windows Server 2016.
Figure: Using a File Share Witness as a quorum witness
In case of power outage in one datacenter, to give equal opportunity for the cluster in other datacenter to keep it running, it is recommended to host the quorum witness in a location other than the two datacenters. This typically means requiring a third separate datacenter (site) to host a File Server that is backing the File Share which is used as the quorum witness (File Share Witness).
References: https://docs.microsoft.com/en-us/windows-server/failover-clustering/deploy-cloud-witness
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