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ANS2344E 'disk-name' is a disk witness.

Troubleshooting


Problem

The backup of the quorum disk in a Microsoft 2012 Cluster Server fails with the ANS2344E error when using the "CLUSTERNODE YES" option.

Diagnosing The Problem

Review the client options file used to backup the quorum disk. In this case, the following options were configured :

DOMAIN Q:
CLUSTERNODE YES
CLUSTERDISKSONLY YES

In this example, the Q: drive is the quorum disk. Because the CLUSTERNODE option is set to YES, the volume cannot be backed up. The error is expected for 2008 and 2012 clusters because backing up the quorum disk is not recommended in such an environment.

Resolving The Problem

Microsoft does not recommend backing up the quorum disk.

  • Failover Cluster Step-by-Step Guide: Configuring the Quorum in a Failover Cluster
    https://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/library/cc770620%28v=ws.10%29.aspx

    Under section entitled "Requirements and recommendations for clusters using node and disk majority", the following is mentioned :

    "In most situations, do not back up the disk witness or the data on it. Backing up the disk witness can add to the input/output (I/O) activity on the disk and decrease its performance, which could potentially cause it to fail."
  • Configure and Manage the Quorum in a Windows Server 2012 Failover Cluster
    https://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/library/jj612870.aspx

    Under section entitled "Witness configuration", the following is mentioned :

    "Should be excluded from backups and antivirus scanning"

If you want to back up the quorum disk, use the following option :

CLUSTERNODE NO

If you want to use the "CLUSTERNODE YES" option then use the following options :

CLUSTERNODE YES
TESTFLAG DISABLEQUORUMFILTER

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Document Information

Modified date:
17 June 2018

UID

swg21959108