Configuring cloud witness in Windows Server 2016 Cluster Azure Files #cloud #azure #winserv

Cloud Witness is a new type of Failover Cluster quorum witness being introduced in Windows Server 2016. But you will need an Azure Subscription to use this unless you are using your own private cloud to use a file share witness in a third DataCenter. As this post is an edited post but still actual

Earlier I create a blog post about creating a file share in Azure.

https://robertsmit.wordpress.com/2014/06/16/microsoft-azure-file-server-system-error64-or-new-azurestorageshare-cannot-bind-parameter-context-azure-cloud-mvpbuzz/

But now this file share can also be used for your Private Cluster Or Azure Cluster but remember your cluster needs internet access to connect to Microsoft Azure.

Edited 5-11-2014 <>>>>>>

So if you want to have a file witness then you will need the fileshare option but the cloud witness is using the BLOB storage and will cost you almost noting with Azure Credits

However the File share is still in preview under Windows Azure Files http://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/library/azure/dn167006.aspx

Now that we have created a new storage account We can use this for the cluster.

If you select the storage account you will see something like this.

We are using the blob storage and skip the above but you can use this for other things

<>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>

At the bottom you can select the Manage Access Keys. This is the information we needed for the cluster.

Keep this save ! You will need this in your cluster.

When opening my windows Cluster Failover manager under more actions you can configure the quorum settings.

As always we do the Advance configuration.

Now we check the Cloud Witness option.

We use the Account name and the Key from the Azure portal that we created earlier.

The screen may differ as you could have a different version!

And we have a Cloud Witness here configured in my Public Cloud.

We don’t need a site to site VPN just connect the Cluster nodes to Internet ( atleast a Azure connection )

If we check the Azure Configuration and there you can see the creation of MSFT-Cloud-Witness. With the files in the blob storage.

You can also configure this in azure.

With the Get-ClusterQuorum we find quickly what witness we have.

and Configuring this is also quickly done put your account name and key in the set-clusterquorum and it will create a Cloud Witness.

Set-ClusterQuorum -AccessKey V7CR1/DijezGyA== -AccountName clusterw10 –CloudWitness

Happy clustering

Flickr Tags: MSOMS,Network Performance Monitor,OMS,NPM,Azure,Cluster

Follow Me on Twitter @ClusterMVP

Follow My blog https://robertsmit.wordpress.com

Linkedin Profile Http://nl.linkedin.com/in/robertsmit

Google Me : https://www.google.nl

Bing Me : http://tinyurl.com/j6ny39w

LMGTFY : http://lmgtfy.com/?q=robert+smit+mvp+blog

Author: Robert Smit [MVP]

Robert Smit is Senior Technical Evangelist and is a current Microsoft MVP in Clustering as of 2009. Robert has over 20 years experience in IT with experience in the educational, health-care and finance industries. Robert’s past IT experience in the trenches of IT gives him the knowledge and insight that allows him to communicate effectively with IT professionals who are trying to address real concerns around business continuity, disaster recovery and regulatory compliance issues. Robert holds the following certifications: MCT - Microsoft Certified Trainer, MCTS - Windows Server Virtualization, MCSE, MCSA and MCPS. He is an active participant in the Microsoft newsgroup community and is currently focused on Hyper-V, Failover Clustering, SQL Server, Azure and all things related to Cloud Computing and Infrastructure Optimalization. Follow Robert on Twitter @ClusterMVP Or follow his blog https://robertsmit.wordpress.com Linkedin Profile Http://nl.linkedin.com/in/robertsmit Robert is also capable of transferring his knowledge to others which is a rare feature in the field of IT. He makes a point of not only solving issues but also of giving on the job training of his colleagues. A customer says " Robert has been a big influence on our technical staff and I have to come to know him as a brilliant specialist concerning Microsoft Products. He was Capable with his in-depth knowledge of Microsoft products to troubleshoot problems and develop our infrastructure to a higher level. I would certainly hire him again in the future. " Details of the Recommendation: "I have been coordinating with Robert implementing a very complex system. Although he was primarily a Microsoft infrastructure specialist; he was able to understand and debug .Net based complext Windows applications and websites. His input to improve performance of applications proved very helpful for the success of our project View all posts by Robert Smit [MVP]