Exam DP-300 topic 6 question 32 discussion

When creating a SQL Failover Cluster Instance (FCI) in Azure, it is generally better to use a cloud witness rather than a disk witness based on Azure shared disks. The cloud witness provides better resilience for several reasons: High Availability: A cloud witness utilizes Azure Blob Storage, which is distributed across multiple data centers and regions. This ensures that the witness remains accessible even during regional outages or failures, providing higher availability. Fault Tolerance: Azure Blob Storage is designed to be resilient against various types of failures, including hardware failures and network disruptions. This makes it a more reliable option for maintaining quorum in a failover cluster. On the other hand, a disk witness relies on shared storage, which may not provide the same level of resiliency and fault tolerance as a cloud witness. If the shared disk or the storage node experiences issues, the cluster quorum could be affected.

chat insists answer is A - While disk witness might still be a technically valid option, it doesn't fully leverage the benefits of Azure's cloud architecture. If the shared disk experiences any issues or outages, a disk witness may fail to provide the expected resiliency compared to a cloud witness. For this reason, cloud witness remains the recommended approach for Azure FCIs using shared disks.

D is correct answer, quorum with disk witness. Disk witness is the most resilient quorum option when using Azure shared disks https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/azure/azure-sql/virtual-machines/windows/hadr-cluster-best-practices?view=azuresql&tabs=windows2012

D is correct. https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/azure/azure-sql/virtual-machines/windows/hadr-cluster-best-practices?view=azuresql&tabs=windows2012#quorum The disk witness is the most resilient quorum option, but to use a disk witness on a SQL Server on Azure VM, you must use an Azure Shared Disk which imposes some limitations to the high availability solution. As such, use a disk witness when you're configuring your failover cluster instance with Azure Shared Disks, otherwise use a cloud witness whenever possible.

A, (node majority with a cloud witness) is not recommended since it doesn't meet the requirement of using Azure shared disks. B, (node majority with no witness) is not recommended since it does not provide resiliency in the event of a network split. C, (node majority with a file share witness) is a valid option but may have limitations on scalability and availability. D, (node majority with a disk witness) is a highly recommended configuration for FCI when using Azure shared disks since it provides the required resiliency and high availability in case of any failure. The correct answer is D.

Selected Answer: D The disk witness is the recommended quorum option when used with a shared storage high availability solution, such as the failover cluster instance with Azure shared disks. https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/azure/azure-sql/virtual-machines/windows/hadr-cluster-quorum-configure-how-to?view=azuresql&tabs=fcm-gui#disk-witness

To maximize resilliency, set a quorum mode as cloud witness where the storage account is located in other Azure region.

node majority with a cloud witness is the option to use. In a node majority quorum configuration, the cluster requires a majority of nodes to be online in order to function. Adding a cloud witness, which is a Microsoft-managed disk in Azure Storage, helps ensure that the quorum configuration has the necessary number of votes to be functional, even if one of the cluster nodes fails. This option maximizes resiliency because the cloud witness helps ensure that the cluster continues to function even if one of the cluster nodes fails, which helps prevent data loss and minimizes downtime.

The cloud witness is ideal for deployments in multiple sites, multiple zones, and multiple regions. Use a cloud witness whenever possible, unless you're using a shared-storage cluster solution. The disk witness is the most resilient quorum option and is preferred for any cluster that uses Azure Shared Disks (or any shared-disk solution like shared SCSI, iSCSI, or fiber channel SAN). A Clustered Shared Volume cannot be used as a disk witness. The fileshare witness is suitable for when the disk witness and cloud witness are unavailable options.