Viewing quorum disks

Use the Viewing Quorum Disks panel in the SAN Volume Controller Console to display a list of managed disks (MDisks) that are used as quorum disks for the cluster.

Introduction

A quorum is set of nodes that operates as a cluster. Each node has a connection to every other node in the cluster. If a connection failure causes the cluster to split into two or more groups of nodes that have full connection within the group, the quorum is the group that is selected to operate as the cluster. The cluster supports three MDisks as quorum disk candidates. Each disk is assigned an number, either 0, 1, or 2, called a quorum index, that identifies the MDisk as a quorum disk to the cluster. You can also assign one of the quorum disks to be the active quorum disk, which is used to resolve a tie-break situation. There can only be one active quorum disk at a time.

Attributes

The following attributes are displayed:

Select
Allows you to select an MDisk to use to perform an action from the task list.
Note: Only one row can be selected at a time.
Name
Displays the name of the MDisk.
State
Displays the state of the MDisk. The following values are possible:
Online
Indicates the MDisk is online and available. All paths to the MDisk are available.
Degraded Paths
Indicates that the MDisk is not accessible to one or more nodes in the cluster. Degraded path state is most likely the result of incorrect configuration of either the disk controller or the fibre-channel fabric. However, hardware failures in the disk controller, fibre-channel fabric, or node could also be a contributing factor to this state. Complete the following actions to recover from this state:
  1. Verify that the fabric configuration rules for storage systems are correct.
  2. Ensure that you have configured the storage system properly.
  3. Correct any errors in the error log.
Degraded Ports
Indicates that one or more 1220 errors have been logged against the selected MDisk. The 1220 error indicates that the remote fibre-channel port has been excluded from the MDisk. This error may cause reduced performance on the storage controller and usually indicates a hardware problem with the storage controller. To fix this problem you must resolve any hardware problems on the storage controller and fix the 1220 errors in the error log. To resolve these errors in the log, select Service and Maintenance > Run Maintenance Procedures. On the Maintenance Procedures panel, select Start Analysis. This action displays a list of unfixed errors that are currently in the error log. For these unfixed errors, select the error name to begin a guided maintenance procedure to resolve these errors. Errors are listed in descending order with the highest priority error listed first. Highest priority errors should be resolved first.
Excluded
Indicates the MDisk has been excluded from use by the cluster after repeated access errors. Run the directed maintenance procedures to determine the problem. You can reset an MDisk and include it in the cluster by running the include task.
Offline
Indicates the MDisk is offline and unavailable. All paths to this MDisk have been lost.
Quorum Index
Displays the number that is assigned to this quorum disk. The number can be either: 0, 1, or 2. You can assign an MDisk a specific index number or the system can assign one.
Active
Displays whether the quorum disk is the active quorum disk. The active quorum disk is the disk which is used first in the event of a cluster partition. You should set an active quorum disk when nodes in an I/O group are split between different physical locations to ensure that the most highly-available quorum disk is used.
The following values are possible:
Yes
Indicates that the quorum disk is used first in the event of a cluster partition.
No
Indicates that the quorum disk is not used first in the event of a cluster partition.
MDisk Group Name
Displays the name of the MDisk group that this quorum disk is assigned to.
Controller
Displays the name of the disk controller system that contains the quorum disk.

Actions

You can select one of the following tasks from the task list:
  • Set a Quorum Disk
  • Set Active Quorum Disk
Note: With the exception of the Set a Quorum Disk task, you must first select an MDisk before you can select a task.
Go
Click this button after selecting a task from the task list. Clicking Go launches the panel for the task that you selected.
Refresh
Click this button to refresh the table with changed values.
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